


Howling Echoes

by AngryCakeChids



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Graphic Description of Corpses, If you get attached to anybody chances are I'm going to straight up murder them, M/M, Minor Character Death, Okami - Freeform, Sarcasm, Sassy- yama, Supernatural Elements, Werewolf AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-08 01:11:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 64,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5477546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngryCakeChids/pseuds/AngryCakeChids
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange murders occurring around Tokyo sends Ginoza Nobuchika spiraling into the incredibly dark world of werewolves, where whispers of the deaths of Okami strike fear into the hearts of wolves. Alongside Kougami Shinya and his pack, Ginoza has to fight for his very right to live and find the truth behind the werewolf naming herself 'Red' and who or what she's working for. All the while, a phantom killer strikes, leaving no trace of themselves save for their victims.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crime that has no Name

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter gets pretty graphic very fast. Read at own discretion, I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable... I also have no idea how long this is going to be, but I know it's not going to be short.

Not for the first time, Ginoza Nobuchika stood at an incredibly gruesome crime scene, possibly the most harrowing one he’d seen in his career thus far.

Their division had received a rather panicked call an hour beforehand, reporting a murder from an incredibly distressed member of the public, who, as far as Ginoza knew, had been given a shock blanket and a hot drink. For some odd reason, corpses had never really bothered Ginoza – they were dead, so it wasn’t like they could hurt him. Naturally, he found it sad whenever an innocent was killed needlessly, especially when they were young ( _their whole lives ahead of them_ ), but Ginoza knew that the best thing to do, not only for the victims, but those left behind, was to find the truth, no matter how ugly it would be – and after years as a detective, he found that in most cases, the truth was hideous. That reason was the driving force in him taking up such a brutal job. Some poor bastard had to do it, after all.

The victim’s remains had been discovered earlier that morning in Minato-ku Roppongi, in one of the busiest areas of the ward. It was located in the most popular strip of nightclubs in the area, so Ginoza’s first train of thought was that an argument had spiralled out of control thanks to the effect of alcohol and ended up in an accidentally fatal incident. His partner on the other hand believed in a more sinister idea – that the death somehow involved the local yakuza, and this death wasn’t an accident.

Kougami Shinya, in all the years Ginoza had known him, had always been this way inclined, suspecting foul play in a majority of cases. As much as Ginoza hated to admit it, most of the time, he was largely correct. In the drive on the way to the scene, they’d discussed it over.

“It was probably a drunken fight,” Ginoza told Kougami as they waited at a red light. “It’s a common occurrence there – local police stations are called most nights to break up fights. This one probably got out of hand, but murder is still murder.”

“The person on the phone sounded like they were about to start screaming, Gino,” Kougami rebutted.

“Most people don’t see dead bodies on a daily basis, Kou, that’s probably why,” he responded, sarcasm lacing every syllable. That had made Kougami laugh and lean over to ruffle his partner’s hair. “Not whilst I’m driving, Kougami.”

After that, Kougami had pretended to sulk, but a withering glance from the bespectacled man was enough to break it as he burst out laughing again. Ginoza and Kougami had been in a relationship for upwards of three years, but they’d decided to keep it strictly professional at work; emotions could affective the efficiency of the team overall.

Once they’d seen the body, Kougami leant in and whispered: “Still think it’s a fight gone wrong?”

In no world could that body be the aftermath of Ginoza’s initial thought process, a drunken tousle. The body was laid, spine on the cold asphalt, limbs spread at impossible angles, evidently broken; the right foot had even been twisted completely off, and was separate from the body, the shattered white of the bone poking out. It made Ginoza flinch just a little bit. The face was mangled beyond comprehension, and a majority of the corpse splattered with blood, which had even pooled onto the floor and surrounding the victim like a twisted version of a halo. The fingers had curled into claws, and seemed to have been desperately scratching into the ground at the time of death. The source of all the blood and the horror instilled in the caller was obvious. The victim’s innards, specifically the intestines and stomach had been completely ripped away entirely; the skin around it had been shredded like it was nothing more than tissue paper; as for the innards themselves, they had been flung like confetti on a nearby wall.

The sight of it made an unexpected chill pass through Ginoza’s body, and subconsciously, he pulled his jacket closer around him. “We can rule out that possibility then,” he hissed out between his teeth, trying to keep a mask of professionalism. “But I can tell you that this isn’t yakuza, either.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Yakuza prefer clean, simple deaths; something quick and easy. Less than thirty seconds, perhaps less than ten, if possible, which is why they use guns,” Ginoza’s eyes narrowed as he lost himself in thought. “They wouldn’t have a death as flashy as this.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Kougami knelt away from the body and supressed an unbidden shiver; he would never admit it aloud, but staring at what remained of the victim, quite frankly, gave him the creeps. “Even if this was some way of sending a message or a warning, yakuza would most likely hand-deliver it to the guys who pissed them off.”

“So, it’s not a fight gone wrong, or yakuza,” Ginoza muttered, mainly to himself. “It must have been several people versus one. That’s how they did so much damage to the extent the victim couldn’t fight back.”

“Probably armed too,” Kougami said. “I’d have to wager maybe a chainsaw for the shredding on the stomach, and I don’t know, I’d have to say they manually pulled the guts out. _Nice._ ”

Ginoza winced at the thought; the murderer was undoubtedly a psychopath, completely and utterly out of their mind. Not a shred of sanity in sight. “Do you think…” he swallowed, not wanting to ask the question, but knowing it had to be asked. “Do you think the victim was alive when they did this?”

“Most likely. Look at the hands,” Kougami pointed at those awful curled hands, gripping the sidewalk as if it could lever them to life. “Broke their nails too.”

“They must have been in agony.” The thought that passed through his mind instantaneously flew out of his mouth before he could prevent it, which wasn’t common for Ginoza. Well, he had an excuse. There was something clearly disturbing close by. He found his mind wandering about who this person had been and what they had done – or hadn’t done – to quantify an attack to this scale. After that, he got thinking about the perpetrator themselves – what were they thinking right now? Were they hiding away out of sight? Or watching over the body like a morbid guardian angel?

“—human at all,” Kougami had been speaking and Ginoza hadn’t been listening; it was probably some comment about the state of the body, so he said nothing and looked around – was one of the bystanders here their criminal? “Hey, Gino.” Kougami’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Didn’t you hear me? I said that our guy this time might not even be human at all.”

 _Not human_. “So, someone like you, then?” Ginoza asked his partner. _A werewolf._

“Looks like it,” Kougami straightened up. “But it’s weird, I’m not smelling anything,” he took in a loud, obvious breath through his nose. “Obviously, I’m smelling traces, but to be honest, they could come from the people. Everyone’s come in contact with a one of us at least once. And the smell kind of sticks.” He took another inhale, deeper, longer. “All I can smell are traces of wolves I know, and none of them would be capable of this extreme damage. None of them would. If they were, you’d smell it on them straightaway.”

“Could it possibly be an outsider?” Ginoza offered; he knew little of how Kougami’s hidden world worked, but he could at least give the other detective a bone to chew, no pun intended.

“Possibly, but it’s highly unlikely that someone slipped through the borders. If so, someone would have reported it,” Kougami reasoned. “Unless someone was helping them from the inside, but to be frank, I don’t want to particularly entertain that thought. Maybe it’s best I ask around later.”

Ginoza stole another glance at the victim’s remains – a small part of him wished that their criminal was a human after all; it sure as hell would make his job a hell of a lot easier. But if a wolf was at fault, then he’d have to do everything in his power to make sure nobody else got involved with this. Judging by the state of the scene, a regular human, including Ginoza himself, didn’t stand a chance against this particular wolf. Maybe not enough Kougami himself could withstand an attack of this severity in human form. And when he was a wolf, could he be able to then?

The noise of something running towards him diverted his attention, and from the sounds of it, it was getting closer and closer. Upon listening in, he quickly established that the footsteps didn’t belong to a human, more like a large animal. Not a second later, he was confident he could hear the damned thing panting as well, so naturally he twisted his head from side to side to try and spot it. If he could hear it breathing, then it should be pretty easy to spot. But there was nothing even remotely like a wolf in the crime scene, and none certainly not one approaching.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, he felt something press into his hair and heard a sharp inhale, and out of instinct, flinched away and quickly looked behind him, but there was nothing there. He shook himself and told himself, rather sternly, to get a grip.

Still, he was sure that something had just been stood there. But for some reason, nobody else had seen it, so it couldn’t have been real. Furtively, he put a tentative hand on his hair before rolling his eyes at himself. _You’re being paranoid. Snap out of it, idiot._

“Welp, let’s get this poor bastard out of public view as soon as we can,” Kougami stood up and stretched, expecting Ginoza to say something, but he didn’t. He seemed to be lost in thought. “Gino?”

“Oh, sorry,” Ginoza shook himself out of his daze. “Yeah, that’s probably the best plan of action.”

“You’re kind of out of it today,” Kougami commented as they idly let the rest of the personnel deal with the body as quickly as they could, cameras flashing. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, probably just tired,” Ginoza waved down Kougami’s concern. He couldn’t exactly tell him that he’d just been stood there daydreaming instead of working, about ridiculous, unreasonable things. He couldn’t explain it, but the idea of werewolves still made him a little on edge; they could be potentially dangerous, and whilst he trusted Kougami, he knew that not all wolves were like him, as the deceased body next to them could probably confirm.

 _It’s not even confirmed as a werewolf yet_ , Ginoza reminded himself _, so stop thinking ahead!_

Still, he did have a sneaking suspicion that Kougami was probably right on the money… again.

 

Even after their gruellingly long shift was over, Ginoza couldn’t get the morbid remains out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. Whenever he closed his eyes, there it was, as daunting as it was the first time he saw it. Admittedly, it was the worst one he’d ever seen, so it was alright to have been badly affected by it; but bodies never did for Ginoza, so what was different about this one?

He’d left Kougami making dinner for the two of them as he went for a shower in a feeble attempt to clear his thoughts and unwind. Remembering the strange feeling of something… sniffing him, apparently, he felt inclined to spend longer than usual shampooing his hair. Maybe he’d stop feeling like an idiot after that. He’d been panicking and hadn’t properly dealt with it, so his mind had conjured up the very thing he’d been afraid of. But still, his panicked thoughts had never felt so realistic before.

Whatever. He was being stupid, and made a conscious effort to push the day’s events from his mind. It didn’t really work, but he could pretend that it had, at the very least.

Fortunately, Dime seemed to pick up on his unease and followed Ginoza around the room, jumping up on the bed even though Ginoza had told him many times that this was _not allowed_. Ginoza didn’t really feel like scolding the dog so let him sit on the edge of the bed and stare at him, wagging his tail the entire time, tongue lolling out. Instinctively, Ginoza sat down next to Dime to stroke his fur to calm down and relax, and the dog, as always, flopped onto his back, expecting a belly rub. Five minutes later, Ginoza stood up and went to the kitchen, and Dime happily followed, his feet trotting a peppy rhythm that didn’t match his master’s mood.

A bowl of Udon noodle broth was waiting for him when he reached the table. The chef himself was already sloppily eating his meal, flecks of liquid splashing on the table’s surface; as always, his head was stuck in a book. Before Ginoza began to tuck in as well, he looked around for a book he could read and lose himself in, so quickly selected _Catch-22_ , hoping the dry humour could raise his spirits if only slightly. Kougami himself was reading _Animal Farm_ , which Ginoza himself had never read. Quietly, he finished his meal and went to clean his bowl, taking Kougami’s bowl and cleaning it.

It was nice how he and Kougami didn’t have to talk all of the time. It was nice to get some peace and quiet sometimes, but he didn’t necessarily want to be alone. Stifling a yawn, he told Kougami that he was probably going to go to sleep. “Yeah, you said you were tired this morning,” Kougami agreed, not looking up from his book. “Don’t tire yourself out, alright?”

“I won’t,” Ginoza pecked Kougami’s forehead as he went past. “Good night.”

“Night. I’ll join you in a bit,” Kougami looked up briefly from his book and watched Ginoza leave.

As he clambered into bed, he made sure to undo the chain around his neck and take off his locket. It was a reminder from his mother, so he wore it for good luck; maybe if he wore it, her spirit would keep him grounded. It was nice to feel protected by some higher power, even though it may not be a logical thing to believe. Carefully, he undid the delicate clasp – he always worried that it was going to snap due to his heavy-handedness – and looked at the photograph, faded with time, but to Ginoza, as clear as ever. She wasn’t looking at the present Ginoza, but she was smiling softly at the baby Nobuchika in her hands, who was sleeping away. “Goodnight, Mom,” he murmured to it, before putting it safely in the drawer.

Curling up under the duvets, pulling them so they were just under his chin, Ginoza fell asleep almost instantly. Sleep seemed to tug at the back of his mind, making his eyelids feel as though they were made of the heaviest osmium. Any thoughts of the day’s events, especially those that occurred at the crime scene seemed to vanish from his mind.

Much later on, Kougami joined his peaceful slumbering partner, who had hidden half of his face in the blankets… and also stolen the duvet. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he laid on top of the mattress and tried to pull the blankets back over to his side, but it was no use – Ginoza had a death grip on the fabric and wasn’t letting go. Kougami, mildly inconvenienced but also finding it somewhat adorable that usually grumpy Ginoza was sheltering like a toddler, slid off the mattress again and padded softly into the living room and pulled the spare blanket off the sofa. It was hardly ideal, but it would have to do. He was tempted to pick up his phone as well and take a picture, but he left it. Kougami clambered into bed for a second time and wrapped the blanket around himself, before snuggling up to Ginoza, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Good, he deserves a good rest. Kougami thought as he shut his eyes.

Unbeknownst to Kougami, Ginoza wasn't sleeping as fitfully as he thought - his mind wasn't filled with the blissful emptiness of slumber but rather the terror of a man plagued with demons of his past. 

* * *

 

_He hated humans, how loud they were, how blind they were - not just physically, but mentally – and how they wasted space. Most of all, he hated how weak they all were; they had been blessed by higher powers, and here they all stood, wasting space. Who was it tonight? Who had decided to foolishly waste their lives and squander their time away?_

_It was a reason he hated humans; everything they touched, everything they found, they ruined it, proclaiming it to be ‘development’ and ‘modernisation’, and turning their eyes away from what they were really doing – killing, destroying, shattering their own world, the world they claimed to be doing so much for. Well, it appeased these humans that they would be beautiful in death. He didn’t want the humans to be pleased with the wreckage they had caused – hence, his lifelong mission._

_He knew, in what little remained of his heart, that what these people needed, more than anything, was being put down in their rightful place, and his kind needed to be revered once again, as they had been in the past. He liked the mortals in that position – begging his kind for their strength, their aid, devoting their lives to them. That system needed to return – this new way of life, a life without fear, had slowly begun taking them all down a path of certain ruin. He did not particularly want to die due to the flaws of such pathetic creatures. He, unlike the others of his kind, had not embraced this new system, and allowed the humans to reign and allow themselves to believe they were the favoured species of the gods. This wasn’t true, evidently; they were so weak, easily breakable – a life form, tinier than the smallest cell, could kill them in hours._

_Shielding his face from onlookers with a hoodie, he scanned from side to side looking for someone suitable. It was in his nature to know good from evil; every one of his kind knew how, but because of these weak, worthless creatures, they were few and far between. However, to be perfectly honest, he most likely hadn’t helped that situation in the slightest, yet to achieve things, sacrifices were necessary. Even if they were bloody._

_The place was recognizable, famous. It was around the Shibuya 109 area… one of the most popular shopping centres in this part of town._

_After several hours and several cups of poorly made tea –_ **was there nothing these damned mortals could do right?** _– he found an ideal target. A woman, perhaps in her mid-thirties, passed him on the street, a hateful pride in her step, her shoulders raised as if she was on the defensive. He could read her like a book – she was filled to the brim with distaste and bitter thoughts towards the world and everyone in it, hating it all, but accepting it, refusing to jeopardize the piteous place she held in the world._

_The streets were emptying now, the citizens of this dying country eager to get home, where it was safe, where fake light fooled them in believing that the monsters of the night couldn’t harm them. That primal fear of monsters, though sullied and no longer central to the mode of living, remained, flaring up in the darkness. After all, nobody knew what lingered out there, always watching, always waiting._

_This fear had to be revived, and he was certain he could do it. He had allies, and a plan, and he was now spreading that fear amongst the world of the light for all to see. Sending a warning; fear us, revere us, or die. Already, people had begun to follow him and his kind like an underground cult, always preaching of the end. Except this time, they weren’t wrong. The end really was nigh._

_The end was especially near for his chosen, hateful victim. Ah, well, it was likely she had been given many chances to change her ways and her attitude and she’d continued living on in her abhorrent fashion until the day she died. If that was how things were going to be, he’d prefer it if that process was sped up considerably._

_He tracked her with his eyes – lucky for him, she’d stopped off in a wine bar. That was more than easy for him – alcohol effected a human’s actions, made them slow, stupid and clumsy. Alcohol had never made much sense to him – if it got them in such a useless state of being, what was the point of having it? Well, people, despite their ever-changing world, grew bored with it, and sought any kind of release from the monotony of their own individual lives. Unbelievable – they’d built this world with the premise of so much beauty and advancement to just blatantly ignore it. What self-obsessed creatures._

_Patrons of the bar staggered out one by one, leaving. His target did not stumble out until the lights of the street had dimmed to conserve electricity (_ what a waste of natural resources _) and the bar itself was shutting. By the time the metal shutters clanged shut, she was the only one on the street, muttering to herself as if she’d been driven mad by her own hatred._

_She staggered away, the loud clicking of her heels stomping on the asphalt covering up any form of noise that he could potentially be making, but he knew that it was unlikely he was making any kind of noise at all. Oh, how blessed it was to be a ghost in the system! Finally, she stumbled inelegantly into a wall, leaning heavily on it, fumbling with keys, the noise of them crashing into one another sounding like the chattering of mischievous imps. More importantly, it distracted her, like a baby with a rattle._

_That was when he struck, reaching out and grabbing her, gently, like a concerned member of the public. She turned around to face him, her face soft as if glad for the assistance, but it mangled as he tightened his grip enough to make it feel like her bones were being compressed._

_The woman herself was caught in a limbo of relief trickling into terror. She was caught in freezing hands that seemed to make her heart frost over. Her attacker had her by the wrist and was absolutely not letting go with an almost bone-crushing force. With one unexpectedly elegant movement, he grabbed her hair with his other hand and began violently tugging on it, her scalp positively stinging. “Stop it!” her voice came out as shaky and pathetic as she felt her hair being ripped out from the skin._

_The hand that had been crushing the bones in her wrists had now moved to her neck, so she could no longer scream for help or even breathe; it was now strangling the life out of her, gripping her neck with an inhuman strength. That didn’t try and stop her from calling for help but all that came out were breathy whimpers._

_And then, just like that, her entire torso was forced backwards into a decidedly unnatural twist, followed quickly by the cracking sound of what sounded like the crunching of a lobster shell. Spasmodic jolts of pain shot through every last inch of her, and sweat began to overflow from every pore of her body. Conflicted on how to react to such intense levels of unbearable agony, her body convulsed and she retched. A sudden burst of especially intense pain distracted her from the disgusting sensation of vomit on her face, and she let a screech (or what could have potentially been one) escape from her mouth._

_After that, she realised she couldn’t move her body either, and was completely paralysed. The hand on her throat lessened the pressure and moved to her ankle. With an even greater force than before, her legs were pulled in opposite directions, almost impossible, like she was one of those old fashioned china dolls that shattered easily._

_And then, her attacker walked away, leaving her there, in that normally busy street, letting her die slowly in insurmountable pain._ What had she done to deserve this?

_Her limbs felt like they had come off, but with a quick look, she knew that they hadn’t. She was like a discarded wishbone – either that, or a broken toy that her assailant had no qualms about discarding like she was nothing._

_As she drew a final, rattled breath, the monster who had done such a thing simply turned around, and_ **smiled.**

* * *

 

Ginoza woke with a start and found Kougami sleeping peacefully next to him. Hammering against his chest like a bird who wanted to be free of its cage, his heart beat so fast he became acutely aware of the blood surging around his body; despite the heat, he felt cold. His dream – no, his nightmare – had been so vivid, he felt like he was there on the scene, reading the thoughts of culprit and victim alike, and that he could just reach out his hands and grab it.

A shower. A shower to clear his head. He needed a shower to clear his head.

With shaking legs, he tentatively placed his feet on the floor, glad of the solid surface. Still shaken, it took a visible effort to put one foot in front of the other; he should probably tell Kougami when the other man woke up. Ginoza was 100 percent certain that werewolves could smell fear. Nausea rocked his body, but he managed to contain as he reached the bathroom and turned the shower on.

When he got in the shower, he sat down and let the warm water heat him up and try and get that omnipresent chill out of his muscles, his nerves, his bones, but it lingered like a layer of slime beneath the surface of his skin, where warm water had no effect.

Snapping him out of his numb contemplation was the sharp ring of the telephone, and he heard Kougami mutter: “Gino, can you get it?” followed immediately by: “Oh, you’re not here.” And then, becoming clearer. “I’ll get it then.” This was followed by the sound of Kougami inelegantly falling out his bed (honestly, weren’t wolves meant to be agile creatures?) and dragging himself across the floor, in all likelihood with the blanket still wrapped around it. The ringing stopped so he could only assume Kougami had picked up the phone. “What d’you want?” Kougami practically growled into the phone. Whenever he slept longer than usual, he was loath to waking up again, hence he preferred sleeping for at most three hours a night. This definitely wasn’t a healthy. There was a brief silence.

Kougami’s tone of voice suggested to Ginoza, who was hurriedly drying himself off and pulling his slacks on again, that he’d received a rude awakening. “ ** _What_**?!” After that, his voice quietened down. “Alright. Alright. Ginoza and I’ll be there as soon as we can. Make sure the public doesn’t get to see it.” Another pause, much quicker this time. “What do you mean ‘too late’?!” The caller relayed some information. “Already on the internet…? Fuck, that’s not good. Alright, well, I’ll see you at the scene. Block off all public access.”

He slammed the phone down near enough. “Who was that?” Ginoza called over, dreading the answer, but needing to hear it.

“Teppei Sugo from Division 2,” Kougami replied.

“What did he want?”

“There’s been another murder which he says is connected to one we found yesterday. He spent time making sure to let me know that it looked much worse than yesterday’s too.”

_Worse?_

“Apparently, pictures are already circulating on the internet, and it’s gone viral, which means people’ll want answers as soon as we can get ‘em.”

“Where… where was the body found?” Ginoza’s tone was level, calm, collected, unlike the thoughts swirling around in his mind which he was struggling to tamp down.

“In between Shibuya PARCO and Club Camelot,” his tone was easy, and he didn’t know the terror his statement struck into Ginoza’s heart. “Hell, that’s only… what? Ten-fifteen minutes from Shibuya 109.”

“Kougami, do you know how they died? Did Sugo say?”

“Yeah. It was kind of grim, to be honest,” he wrinkled his noise in evident distaste. “What a great thing to wake up to.”

“The victim was a woman this time,” Ginoza commented to himself.

Kougami’s face twisted into an expression of confusion. “It was. What makes you say that?”

“I… don’t know,” Ginoza lied to him. Against his better judgement, he’d decided to lie to Kougami – no way was he telling him about the nightmare he’d been experiencing nearly all night. His partner would think he’d officially lost it and he’d be taken off the case. He couldn’t allow that to happen. “She had her legs ripped off too.”

“Damn, how the hell did you know that?” Kougami seemed perplexed by his partner’s inhumanly accurate guesswork, before relaxing again. “Damn, Gino, you really had me going there for a minute. Let me guess, you’ve read the news already.”

“That’s right, I checked on my phone when I went to the toilet,” Ginoza agreed. “The only one who’s behind here is you.”

“Jeez, thanks,” Kougami stretched. “Well, let’s get ready. We have a crime scene to investigate.”

“Oh _joy_ ,” Ginoza commented before pulling out his suit, which never seemed to have any creases in it, ever, much to Kougami’s constant confusion. Kougami was always the quickest to get dressed so left Ginoza slowly correcting his tie as he lumbered tiredly to the kitchen, ready to make coffee for them both in the thermos flasks Aoyanagi had given them for Christmas last year ‘for those early morning shifts’. After that, they seemed to have increased in number.

As he went to fetch the pot of coffee grains on the side, he happened to catch something interesting on the side. Ginoza’s cell was still plugged in at the socket on charge.

It was impossible for Ginoza to have put his phone back on charge after emerging from the bathroom without Kougami seeing him. So that ruled out the possibility that Ginoza had used his phone to uncover the news. So how the hell did he know about the murder? Kougami’s phone was on the side as well, and the laptops hadn’t been moved from the coffee table. But that wasn’t really what was bothering him.

Why had Ginoza lied? What exactly what was he hiding?

A terrible thought struck Kougami. What if Ginoza’s trust in him was fading because of what he was, and what was happening? No, he told himself firmly. Ginoza was not like that, at all. He wouldn’t.

So when his partner entered the room again, he smiled at him, and pretended he had no idea he was being lied to.


	2. The Black Wolf Summons his Brethren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation continues... as does Ginoza's lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All places mentioned in this fic are indeed real, and despite the murders happening outside of them, they are really good places to visit.

An hour later, after hurriedly downing the coffee, they were at the murder scene. The smell was immensely foul, and Ginoza felt a wave of nausea hit him as Kougami coughed, covering his hands and nose. “Jesus fuck,” he cursed, and pushed past the loitering police officers milling around, finally catching full view of the body. “Oh, Jesus fuck!” he said again, horror in tone. Quietly, almost muted, Ginoza looked over Kougami’s shoulder at the remains. Out of instinct, he gritted his teeth and tried to ground himself – it was the same woman out of his dream, and he’d seen her attack. But the murderer who’d done such a horrific act walked free, invisible from Ginoza’s mind.

Aoyanagi’s team had already responded to the scene and all photographs had been taken and notes all written down for Ginoza and Kougami to extensively look through for hours for any semblance of an answer. They’d done that the previous day too, but there were little to no clues regarding their murderer.

 _Is it you?_ A thought that he had no control over flew through his mind, almost like it wasn’t really his thought.

He frowned. _What? Was he what? The murderer?_ That was ridiculous. He shook himself firmly and tried to put the dream out of his mind; it was one of those psychological phenomena he’d heard about in books and reports. He’d just never expected one to happen to him was all. At least this one’s face remained intact so they could identify it and inform the parents. If they hadn’t already stepped up after seeing the pictures pasted everywhere online.

The woman’s body had been left in an abominable state – Ginoza shuddered; Jinnan Elementary School wasn’t too far from here, and it was a school day… what if a child had seen this? No, that thought didn’t bear thinking about; it was unlikely they had. “Hey, Gino, you doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he called over. “It’s just jarring to see it in reality. At least on the internet you can easily say that it’s photoshopped.”

“You have a point there,” Kougami sighed. “Well, let’s get back to the office and talk this over with the team. Looks like we have a serial case on our hands.” Ginoza had strong doubts they would be able to catch their criminal before he struck again, and again, _and again, and again,_ **and again** **_and again and ag-_** “Gino, c’mon. We’re not going to achieve anything just standing around.”

“You’re right,” Ginoza agreed, walking slowly towards the car. Should he tell Kougami about his dream, and how he knew the circumstances of this woman’s death.

 ***

In the office, they were analysing data with the other divisions – this case had swamped them all. “The victim from yesterday has been IDed as Sugawara Shoko, and today’s has already been identified by friends and family on the web as Fuji Hiroko. Sugawara was twenty-two, and she was a… ‘celebrity’ on the net,” the sarcasm in Kougami’s voice was barely masked. Ginoza dutifully made notes against the picture of Sugawara given by the family and drew a line connecting the suspect that had been apprehended last night. Ginoza didn’t bother saying the police force were wasting their time with him.

“Apparently, she had a spat with another user in the same circle with fans taking sides and so on, so Teppei’s grilling him as we speak,” Ginoza butted in, and muttered the words he was quickly scrawling down – though his handwriting would be neater than Kougami’s any day of the week. “She was found in Minato-ku Roppongi, just outside BRAND TOKYO. We’ve checked the CCTV of this area, but nothing showed up. There’s signs it’s been tampered with, so this line of enquiry has been shut down.” He crossed through the word ‘CCTV’ with a big red ‘X’. They were dealing with some form of organised crime, if this was the case.

“The suspected cause of death is extreme blood loss, shock, or haemorrhaging caused by disembowelment.” Ginoza wrinkled his nose as he wrote down the list next to her photograph. “Either way, we suspect it was done by one person, but what weapons were used, we’re not clear of.”

 _Claws, teeth and brute strength_ , Ginoza wanted to chip in, but didn’t.

“And the other victim..?”

“Right, Fuji,” Kougami moved on, picking up the other file. “Found this morning at precisely 6:09 AM. The caller said that Fuji’s body was still warm at this point, so we can assume the murder happened earlier this morning –“ Ginoza’s knuckles went white around the pen and it screeched against the board, “-and police got there at 6:35 AM. Her body was discovered between Shibuya PARCO and Club Camelot, both of which are popular visits for tourists and residents alike, so again, we can assume this murder was meant to be seen by the public.”

“And it was,” Ginoza interjected sharply. “At 7:12, the photo of her body began circulating on a blogging site, and after that it made its way around to news stations, including NHK WORLD.” He looked at the officers gathered, hanging onto Kougami and his every word. “Which, as you all broadcasts in 18 different languages, so pretty soon, it will become international as well. So we have to solve this as soon as we can, or we’ll probably receive backlash.”

“That never makes any sense,” a voice called from the back, from a junior office Ginoza thought was named Kuwata or Kurata or something along those lines. “It’s not like we killed her.”

“Yeah, but not finding the truth means we’re not doing our jobs,” Risa Aoyangi’s voice silenced any other forms of protest. “The only link that we have between the victims is that they were both females below the age of forty, and both were discovered out of nightclubs in relatively popular areas. Other than that, they have no other links.”

“Serial killers usually have patterns to their victims, but we don’t have enough data to find one,” Kougami pointed out. “On that note, none of here really wants any more data.”

“Anyway, Fuji’s friends revealed that they’d met up last night at around 21:00, and went to TRUMPROOM bar, around the corner. The two women left at 00:00 this morning-“Ginoza wrote as he spoke. “But Fuji said she’d stay for another drink, which the staff confirm she did. After that CCTV footage has her going to the Club Camelot. After that, nothing.”

It was Risa who spoke, instead of Kougami. “Her friends also said that they think her ex-boyfriend did it – apparently he called her hundreds of times a night, and Fuji was getting pretty sick of it, so just blocked him. Sensible, really.”

“So a potential stalker could have killed her,” Kougami speculated aloud, so Ginoza dutifully wrote it down. Maybe he should talk to Kougami. What was the point in hiding it? Well, he couldn’t just come out and tell him he had a nightmare that severe; Kou would ensure he could no longer take the case, and he needed to, especially after what he’d seen.

The session continued like that, with people throwing out random bits of information they’d heard, and Ginoza – and eventually, Risa, to keep up with everyone’s suggestions – wrote them down, his neat cursive deteriorating into a scruffy scrawl. Despite all the hints and suggestions the force had collectively made, all of them were either irrelevant or speculation. So then came the process of elimination, ruling out most of said suggestions.

And they were nowhere nearer to the truth. In the end, Kougami called a break for everyone to go and rest in order to get their thoughts together. Ginoza was putting his jacket on ready to go home when Kougami came up behind him. “Something’s bugging you.”

“Yes,” Ginoza agreed. “This case.” That made Kougami’s mouth twist up in a smile that faded as soon as it appeared.

“No, it’s not just that,” Kougami shook his head as Ginoza straightened out his black jacket, buttoning it up slowly, not looking at his concerned boyfriend. He didn’t say anything, thinking of something he could say, but it was Kougami who relented first. “Fine, you want to deal with it yourself. No biggie. I shouldn’t have pried anyways.” There was a somewhat awkward pause in which Ginoza mentally kicked himself. “Wanna go out for a drink?”

“I don’t drink, Kou,” Ginoza reminded him, turning to face him.

“It doesn’t have to be alcoholic,” Kougami held up his hands in mock surrender. “But you’ll be driving.” Ginoza rolled his eyes as he followed Kougami out of the building into the autumnal air. “I was actually thinking we could grab some food while we’re at it. There’s a really good place in Omotesando – Ichiran Harajuku.”

“So, it’s a date now?” Ginoza looked at Kougami who laughed at his expression as he climbed in on the driver’s side.

“Yup, and it’s on me, no arguments,” he ruffled Ginoza’s hair when he clambered in the car. At Ginoza’s glower, he seemed genuinely shocked. “What? You’re not driving yet!”

***

The date was going relatively well, and they both selected tonkotsu, a timeless classic and one of Kougami’s favourite simple dishes. Almost on purpose, they’d discussed nearly everything that wasn’t the case; books, possible places to go in the future, some anecdotes Kougami had heard from some guys at work, raising soft laughter from Ginoza. Kougami had to wager that very few people had ever heard Ginoza like this.

Until finally, as he was downing the dregs of his second beer, he lowered his voice and leant in. “I’m going out tonight,” the suggestion was that clear to Ginoza that it would have made no difference whether Kougami had stated it simply or not. _Meeting his pack._

“Oh, I see,” Ginoza took a sip of his own drink, a speciality of Ichiran, Shikaibicha tea. He’d have to get some to take away with him, he noted to himself. “How did you organise that, some kind of wolf telepathy?”

“Ah, yes,” Kougami’s tone was filled to the brim with sarcasm. “The great device, only bestowed upon us, the wolves, filled with immense magical power, that if the wrong hands got on it, it could surely mean the end of the world… _Facebook._ ” At Ginoza’s unimpressed expression, he guffawed. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah, haha,” Ginoza replied scathingly. “Tell everyone I said hi, will you?” He’d met Kougami’s pack on three prior occasions, twice when they were in human form. The third time was the time he found out precisely what Kougami was, and the event still had shivers running down his spine.

He didn’t want to particularly think of that night.

“Will do,” Kougami smiled. “Oh, and Gino? Try and stay safe tonight. If this is a work of some wolf, I don’t want them picking up my scent on you or your scent on me and you getting targeting.”

“Thanks,” Ginoza rolled his eyes. “What, does that mean you’re grounding me or something?”

“No way,” Kougami laughed it off. “Just keep yourself safe tonight. Order pizza, whatever. My advice would be to just stay in tonight. I have the feeling we’ll have a third body tomorrow.”

 _Me too,_ Ginoza responded dryly. “Alright, I’ll stay in tonight. I wouldn’t want you to end up _exposing_ yourself for my sakes.” Kougami spluttered on the food in his mouth, coughing to cover up his laughter – whenever he wolfed out, he always ended up back home sans clothes, In the end, he’d ended up wearing a dressing gown to vanish into the meeting place with, and usually he’d bring it back home with him, clamped between his teeth. The small inside joke served to cover up the second lie Ginoza had told Kougami that day. “What time will you be going? And when will you be back?”

“I’ll head out at eight so I’m early,” Kougami mused, pausing to ask a waiter for the bill. “I should be back around midnightish.”

So Ginoza had roughly four hours to do his own private little investigation and ask questions, using his dream as a basis. He would have to head to the PARCO area of Shibuya and start scoping out the cafes for what little information he had to go on. Naturally, Kougami had no way of knowing this. “Well, we still have two hours,” Ginoza commented. “Is there anything you want to do?”

“Nah, let’s go home and relax. And by relax, I mean get your ass kicked at video games,” Kougami had that wolfish grin on his face again.

“They sound like fighting words, Kougami,” Ginoza barely kept the happiness out of his voice. “You know the one who’ll be having their asses kicked is you.”

Several hours later, Ginoza’s words – unlike most things he’d told Kougami that day – rung true as Kougami sat defeated, controller in hand. “Well, shit,” Kougami flopped back on the cushions. “That means it’s my turn to pay for our date next time.”

“Damn right,” Ginoza agreed.

“Well, I should probably set off now,” Kougami straightened up, stretching his arms way up above his head, before bending down to kiss Ginoza, almost like he didn’t want to pull away. Almost that he knew Ginoza had no intentions of sticking to his word of staying indoors. “Stay safe.” With that, he opened the back window and jumped out. They weren’t high up, but it still made Ginoza worry. Standing up from the sofa, he looked at the receding figure of a wolf vanishing into the dusk.

Once he’d made sure Kougami had gone, he looked at the clothes he’d put aside in his wardrobe after he’d had a shower, and pulled them out. For good luck, he pulled his mother’s locket out the drawer and put it around his neck, taking a minute to look at the photo on the inside, that soft smile comforting him, telling him: _It’s alright, Nobuchika. You’re doing the right thing._ This was a lie, naturally, but he needed to carry on looking into Fuji Hiroko’s death.

With that, he grabbed his coat, his police badge and locked up, and left, leaving the lights on so it looked like he was still in.

 ***

_Sasayama Mitsuru, local boozer and general waste of space, crashed back home and collapsed on his sofa, but not before he’d grabbed yet another can of beer from the fridge. Without looking up from her laptop screen, his protégée (but not really) called over: “You’re going to get fat if you continue drinking so much beer.”_

_“Thanks for the feedback,” he responded drily. “You’re full of joy as always, ain’t ya?” Kirino Tohko only looked up from her screen to roll her eyes at him to tell him that he was an idiot. “Aight, aight, I know that already. You don’t have to tell me twice, jeez…”_

_He reached over for the remote and switched the TV on. “You know, for somebody who’s meant to be protecting me, you’re not doing a very good job,” she corrected him, which she knew pissed him off. Sasayama had been charged by the elders to look after Tohko following an incident over a decade ago. “You know that if the elders catch wind of this, they will not be pleased with you.”_

_“They’re never pleased with me anyways,” Sasayama chugged at his beer. “Man, that hit the spot.”_

_“Don’t you think that it’s about time you started being a productive member of society, wolf or no?” This was how most of their conversations went – each side attacking the other with words made of razors, but at the end of the day, whatever she asked him to do, he’d do it, and when he offered her advice, she’d take it. How had Kougami described their relationship again? Oh, that was it – hard as nails and soft as silk. It was hardly great, but Kirino raised an excellent point – it was his job to look after her._

_“Hmm, let me think about that…” he trailed off, mockingly. “No.”_

_“Didn’t you have a ‘meeting’ to go tonight, or was that an excuse for you to sneak off and drink yourself stupid?”_

_“Pro’lly,” he muttered, thinking back._

_“You do realise you’re funding me – you have to get me through college, you know, and if you keep funnelling money away on alcohol, you’re going to fail in your –“_

_“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know,” he waved her down. “Maybe you should get a job instead of lettin’ me do all the hard work. My job has shit enough pay as it is.”_

_“Maybe you should find a job,” she bit back._

_“Ah, yes, because there are so many I can do, with just the right level of qualifications. And I can’t go back and get me some edu-ma-cation, because then we couldn’t to live in this lovely abode.”_

_“It’s a shit tip.”_

_“Lovely abode,” he repeated himself. “Meetin’ at nine…? Why would I say tha- Oh, SHIT!” he jumped out of his seat, spilling the half-filled can of beer on the floor._

_“You’re cleaning that up,” Tohko told him sternly._

_“I would love to, but cleanin’ up duty falls on you tonight, sweetheart,” Sasayama sobered up quickly, trying to strip himself down as fast as he could. “Got a meetin’ with the pack, and if I’m late, Kou’ll chew my ass off again. Maybe even literally this time.”_

_“Something tells me you would enjoy that,” Kirino mumbled darkly, returning to what was on her screen._

_“Oh, very fuckin’ funny, Tohko!” Sasayama yelled as he sprinted out the backdoor, leaving it open, and she barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the retreating back of the coffee-coloured wolf._

_“Were you raised in a barn?!” she shouted after him._

_With a shiver, she felt as though someone was looking at her, so she retreated back inside, and closing the door properly this time. Out of the feeling of the creeping unknown, she locked the back door, and retreated into the hall and locked the front door too._

_Then she went back to her computer._

_***_

_Kunizuka Yayoi had wound up idly practising a few songs on her guitar as she waited for her girlfriend to finish getting ready. It never made much sense to her. If they were just going to turn into wolves, did it really matter about her make-up? Or what she was wearing? When she got through five songs, humming the words softly instead of singing, she decided to look up and check the time – seeing that it was half-eight already and their meeting was at nine, she had to hurry the other woman along. “Shion, are you nearly done?” she called up the hall, where she heard Karanomori Shion singing along to whatever song came on the radio._

_“Hmm?” The music and singing stopped as Shion poked her head around. “What’s up, Yayoi?”_

_“It’s eight-thirty, we have to go,” the guitarist pressed gently._

_“I haven’t had chance to pick my outfit!” the blonde wailed._

_“It doesn’t matter, we’re taking our clothes off anyway,” Yayoi didn’t mean to imply anything remotely sexual, but if there was anything that could be taken in the wrong way, it would be found by Shion._

_“Ooh, Yayoi, well if you felt that way now, I could surely ob-”_

_“Shion, if we’re late, Kougami might double our number of patrols,” Yayoi didn’t fancy having any extra patrols – they were cutting down her hours spent on her guitar and with Shion, and she knew that Shion’s shifts at the hospital were gruellingly long as it stood._

_“I wouldn’t put it past Shinya,” Shion sighed loudly. “That guy’s a nutcase for keeping the border of Kanto secure.” Yayoi made no comment on that – Kougami’s overprotectiveness was perfectly justified, after all._

_She also had a rough – and most likely, accurate – idea of what Kougami needed to speak to them about; how could she not, with it being thrown at her from all angles? “It’s important.”_

_“Right, right,”Shion emerged from the bathroom and ran into their bedroom and Yayoi heard the banging and shutting of several doors. “It’s most likely to do with his job again – why can’t he do it himself?”_

_“He does solve crimes for a living, it does require some level of skill,” Yayoi pointed out. “Besides, he’s most likely gathering information.”_

_“Still, I wouldn’t ask him to try and perform a laparotomy…” she muttered darkly, emerging wearing a deep red dress._

_“Isn’t that a bit much for a werewolf meeting?” Yayoi asked innocently; she was dressed in black skinny jeans and a t-shirt, nothing near as gorgeous as her girlfriend._

_“Now, now, now, Yayoi, you know that it’s my lifelong goal to be the prettiest wolf that there ever was,” she announced grandly. “Shall we be off, my dear?”_

_“It’s quite chilly out, you’ll need a jacket.” Looking at the coat rack, she selected a furry white shawl to tug over Shion’s shoulders. “There. Now you look like a glamourous movie star.”_

_***_

_Hinakawa Sho was usually found working in an old people’s home after his lectures at college for a tiny bit of work experience under his belt. Not only that, he knew that the old people were lonely now, since most of their friends had passed on, so he took it upon himself to be their friend and care for them like they were his own grandparents._

_However, upon hearing that there was a meeting on tonight, organised by the alpha, he’d booked time off. Not a lot, but he told his boss that it was a very important doctor’s appointment, but he felt uncomfortable lying to them. But if he told them the truth, he would be ridiculed._

_“Sho, will you be back tomorrow?” one of the ladies he talked to often, Miyanoshita Kayako, asked him from her bed. “I was looking forward to our checkers game tonight.”_

_“I’m sorry, Mrs. Miyanoshita,” Sho bowed deeply, truly sorry for leaving the old woman alone without much conversation. “I’ll be back tomorrow for sure. We can play two checkers games, then.”_

_“Is this to do with your science school?” the old lady asked._

_“No, it’s not my biochemistry course,” he corrected her politely. “Just a doctor’s appointment, but I have to go to it, it’s really important.”_

_“You shouldn’t be getting sick at your young age,” Kayako mumbled softly. “Leave that to the old.”_

_“I think it would be very bad if you got sick, Mrs. Miyanoshita,” Sho smiled warmly at her. “Have a good evening!”_

_“You too, Sho. I hope your appointment is fun.”_

_Once he was out of sight of the old people’s home, he quickly clambered into his car – an old, beaten Mazda that probably needed several repairs on it, but he felt way to awkward taking it to the mechanics since he didn’t know the first thing about cars or how to ask the engineer how it needed to be fixed, so he just left it – and quietly drove to the city’s edge._

_Once he was there, he carefully checked – about a dozen times – that no people were there to see him, and he quickly got undressed, folding his clothes up neatly on the front seat and climbed out awkwardly, hiding behind his car. He carefully locked it before hiding the keys behind the front wheel, and once everything was secure and safe, he let his wolf mind do the rest of the work, and before he knew it, a skinny russet wolf was gazing at him nervously from the reflective surface of the Mazda._

_He didn’t want to be late – as a newcomer to the pack, he didn’t want to make a bad impression – so he took off sprinting into the grassy area, the city lights dying behind him._

_***_

_Fortunately for him, Kagari Shuusei had been on a camping trip anyway, since he’d read online somewhere that it was great for resetting his natural body clock. Since he worked from home, it was essential he took his phone, which was good since Kougami called an emergency meeting. That had only happened once before, and that really was a crisis._

_Emerging from his tent at 8:30, he wolfed out after checking that the small generator he’d taken with him was charging his phone, and took off into the woods. He loved running free as a rampant wolf, and getting to see his pack again. For safety reasons which nobody had ever specified to him or Hinakawa, the “alpha” pack could only meet up in wolf forms away from human eye, and no contact could be made in human form unless it was absolutely imperative. Oh well, it was nice to belong somewhere, he guessed._

_Most of the wolves in the pack, with the exception of himself and Hinakawa, were from Hinohara village (the very name sent a nasty chill running through every self-respecting werewolf’s blood), whereas he was from Kawagoe, and Sho from Okutama. His village instructed him to control his wolf and hide it away like it was something to be ashamed of, but meeting Kou when he ran away from his village had changed that._

 ***

One by one, his pack began appearing, with Sho arriving fifteen minutes early and making small talk with Kougami about how work was going before launching into telling him about his own job – which the alpha did enjoy listening to, since it was like listening to a child talk at length about their passions. Kagari charged in next, frightening the crap out of the smallest of the pack who yelped in surprise, the ginger wolf as eager as ever. After that, Shion and Yayoi trotted in, gracefully, just in time, looking rather elegant in their slim onyx and platinum wolf forms. Twenty minutes later and late to the appointed time, Sasayama crashed through the underbrush, panting so hard it was obvious he’d been running all the while.

Kougami couldn’t be bothered scolding him about being late; there were more pressing matters at hand. “I think you all know why you’re here,” he stated, like he was conducting a business meeting. “As you all know, gruesome murders have been committed in Tokyo, and I really think it was a wolf doing it.”

“Yikes,” Kagari, who’d been out of the loop for just over three days, was limiting his internet usage to his social media, and hadn’t checked the news. “I haven’t seen it yet, and I don’t think I want to. How gruesome?”

“That’s a little morbid, isn’t it, Kagari?” Shion teased him as her girlfriend described them quickly.

“The first was disembowelled. The second had her legs torn off,” Yayoi’s voice sounded cold, like she didn’t particularly care much for the deceased. Saying that, it took a lot to ruffle Yayoi and scare her off.

“So what do you want us to do, Kou?” Sasayama looked at his alpha.

“Simple, I need information, and the fastest way to do that is through you,” Kougami looked at each one of them individually. “I need to know if that whilst you’ve been on patrol, you’ve seen anything out of place, no matter how minor. Smelt traces of anything at all. Just… ask around.”

“There’s like… 300 wolves in this region alone, Kou!” Kagari protested. “Some of ‘em don’t even like other wolves – and you expect us to ask around?”

“I was hoping you could go back to your village and ask around there,” Kougami’s tone implied that this was an order and not to be debated.

“They’ll have pretty much exiled me at this point! I can’t go back!”

“Tough shit,” Sasayama spat from the side.

“I know a couple of people who patrol on the Chubu-Kanto line – Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa?” Shion spoke up, and looked lovingly at Yayoi. “We’re pretty good friends, actually. They always come to Yayoi’s gigs, so they might be able to do something.”

“Chubu?” Kougami frowned. Wolves that swore allegiance to no regions at all were worse than wolves that swore themselves to their rivals. They were wanderers, persuaded by material objects.

“I know what you’re thinking, but we can trust them,” Yayoi’s calm tone soothed his slight irritation. “Amari and Tsubasa’s packs have a dispute with another Chubu pack who patrol the line, apparently.”

“S’pose that would be the Roma pack?” Sasayama guessed.

“You got it,” Shion beamed at him. “They’ll be willing to help us. Remember, they escaped Hinohara too.” There it was, that forbidden word, Hinohara, almost a taboo. Nobody wanted to remember that place, but occasionally it was inevitably brought up into the light – just to be quelled again. The events of Hinohara had been a thorn in Kougami’s side for nearly over two decades – the Kanto region had never fully recovered.

“Alright, I’ll leave that to you,” Kougami nodded at the two women. “Sasayama, I want you to ask the packs stationed around the region.”

“That’s like… That’s like… fifty fuckin’ packs! You can’t expect me to-” a look from Kougami’s icy grey eyes silenced him.

“Tough shit,” Kagari snorted, earning himself a false swipe from the coffee wolf.

“Urgh, fine, fine,” Sasayama mumbled. “I have a real person job, just to let you know.”

“Then you’re going to get well acquainted with our old friend coffee,” Kougami smirked slightly at Sasayama’s flabbergasted expression, before relaying orders to the remainder of his pack. “Kagari, you’re going to start patrolling the entire Kanto border and try and smell something out – any newcomers, anything at all. Then I want you to trace them and try and talk to them. If not, report to me, regardless.”  He paused. “That’s something that bothered me – at both crime scenes, both murders were evidently done by someone not human, so a wolf… but there wasn’t a scent anywhere. Not even on the body itself.”

“That’s weird…” Yayoi mused, looking at the ground. “Everyone has a smell, some is just fainter than others.”

“Yeah, not everyone can be liked good old Sasayama here,” Shion laughed at the other wolf.

“Hey, are you calling me stinky?!” Sasayama growled.

“You do have a… rather strong musk, Mitsuru,” Shion winked at him, her tone laced with an implication.

“The lack of smell is where you come in, Sho,” Kougami turned to the newest member of the group, who’d been in the pack for less than six months. During an inter-pack war which Kougami, as the stand-in ruler of Kanto had to go and resolve, he’d met Sho, who was certain of foul play and lead Kougami to a conclusion he wouldn’t have afterwards – one pack had attacked another pack, claiming that it had stolen their daughter, and Sho confirmed this as true, but it was likely the girl ran away. She had indeed, since she was eloping with the alpha of that pack. Kougami had to tell her to return home and explain to her parents. Briefly, he wondered how she and her husband were doing. “You have a much better nose than anyone here, so I was hoping you could sniff something out that I’ve missed. If you find anything, come tell me, alright?”

As the pack came up with a strategy on how to deal with the problem at hand, they were distracted from another pressing problem occurring in Tokyo. Another set of wolves _were_ in Tokyo, and their next target had just stepped out of his apartment, leaving all of the lights on so nobody would know that he was out at all.


	3. Guided by the Phantom's Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginoza conducts his own private investigation, despite all prior warnings, and he should have maybe listened to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, there is some VERY graphic descriptions of violence, so read at your own discretion. Also, shoutout to Meredith Boyes for bestowing upon me his wisdom of finding things and sleeping in times of danger.

The key to finding the truth was understanding the person who was hiding or warping it. After that, it should be easy. The first thing would be to retrace steps he saw in his dream, or what little he saw of them. He’d decided to use public transport to conduct his investigation, after deciding that taking the car was too noticeable. Should Kougami somehow find himself in downtown Tokyo, at least Ginoza could hide the fact he’d been out at all.

It didn’t take him long to get himself in the place where less than 24 hours ago, Fuji Hiroko’s body had been viciously destroyed in an impartial attack. So where had she gone first again? Right, TRUMPROOM wine bar. So that would be his first port of call.

He walked in, overwhelmed by the glamour and glitz to the entire place, with lights beaming down at him, almost illuminating his path. It was his first time in a wine bar – as it was known amongst his closest friends, Ginoza could not handle his alcohol. But even so, he had no time to stand there musing about pointless, irrelevant trivia! Wasting no time, he strode purposefully up to the bartender who was polishing a delicately designed champagne flute almost lovingly, and he looked up with a scowl as Ginoza approached. _Excellent customer service,_ Ginoza thought to himself dryly. However, the scowl vanished as he presented his police badge. “What can I help you with… uh, sir?”

“I suppose you’ve already been questioned by the police?” Ginoza began.

“Yes, we all answered the questions the CID asked us,” he answered. “Care for a drink? On the house, naturally – solving this thing must be giving you a headache.”

“No thank you, I’m on duty,” Ginoza declined as politely as he could. “We’ve opened another line of enquiry, and it’s imperative I get the answers now. I believe that you know the name Fuji Hiroko?”

“Yes, it’s the woman that was in here the other night who was murdered. That sort of news is hard to miss, especially so close to home,” he put the flute down and picked up a thicker wine glass and began polishing that as well.

“Did she talk to any of the staff during her stay here? I take it that she was left alone for a period of time.”

“She was drinking alone – she and two friends had been here for a few hours, and she was crying about something or the others – one of our waitresses heard snatches about problems with an ex and issues with her job,” he shrugged his shoulders. “The police already knew that when we told them.”

“Right, but did she talk to anybody here?”

“As a matter of fact, she did,” the bartender put down the wineglass. “I went over to check since the instant her friends left, she began crying again.”

“What did you talk about? Anything at all would be helpful,” Ginoza quickly got out his notebook which was always in his coat pocket and began scribbling.

“I went over to go and check on her – it wasn’t really a personal thing. I won’t have customers crying in the shop. It doesn’t bode well for our rating.” _Charming._ “She began blubbing on me that she hated her job, she hated her boss and just wanted to start over anew, go somewhere nobody knew her. It tugged at my heart strings, truly. She really said something which really made me think: _she’d rather die than continue living such a lonely life_. When I tried to tell her she had friends that cared about her, she told me that wasn’t what she meant. I had no idea what she meant, but she paid me, gave me a tip and left.”

“Thank you.” This was new information. He wrote a quick note for another possible line of enquiry – _expressing a want of dying/hating life; link to Shoko? Check later._ “One last question; did you notice anyone suspicious?”

“Yeah, you guys asked me that this morning,” the bartender shook his head at the clichéd nature of the question, picking up yet another glass to clean. “There was nobody suspicious in my shop. Nobody staring at her, nobody targeting her.”

“What about outside your shop?”

“There most likely was someone suspicious outside the bar, Inspector – that would be your murderer. I don’t have time to stare outside the window when I’m on shift, so I can’t help you there.”

“Alright, thank you for your help,” Ginoza faced the other man. Quickly thinking about the vivid nightmare he’d had only last night, he tried to recall as much about the culprit as he could. He was drinking tea, and he hated it; he was also sat outside and wearing a hoodie. He watched Fuji leave TRUMPROOM and followed her to Club Camelot. “This may sound like a strange request, but are there any cafes near here and Club Camelot?”

“I know the area like the back of my hand; one has to, in this business, you know?” he winked, but Ginoza didn’t particularly understand why. “There’s a café opposite us – you can see it, look.” He indicated with a towelled hand out the window. “That one’s _Doutor Coffee Shop,_ and the closest ones to Camelot are… _Jinnan Café_ or the _Gorilla Coffee Shibuya-ten_.”

True enough, there was a café opposite the wine bar, with seats outside. Less than 24 hours ago, a killer had been sat there, drinking tea he didn’t particularly care for and seeking out his next victim. So he’d chosen Fuji, who was going through a hard time. Was it possible he’d overheard her expressing a wish to die? And had he granted her wish, like a twisted grim reaper? No, it was impossible for him to have heard from that distance, through glass – now he was just being stupid. Or was he? If the killer had supernatural strength, then it made sense that he was, himself, a supernatural being? And by supernatural being, he meant werewolf. Kougami had told him werewolves had heightened senses – a keen sense of smell, eyesight so good it could see as clearly in the night as it could in the day, ears that could pick up sounds from miles away. Kougami had proven that much just from what little Ginoza knew of his werewolf side.

“Thanks for your help. If any of your staff remember anything, don’t hesitate to call us,” Ginoza scrawled the helpline number on a page inhis notebook and ripped it out. “I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”

He left TRUMPROOM in a daze, his vision seeming blurry and his head thick, but he pushed through it. If he collapsed here, Kougami would hear of it and he’d want to know _precisely what the fuck he thought he was doing outside when the moon was out_? Hurriedly, he went over to Doutor Coffee and ordered a cup of coffee and sat outside, thinking over the case. He’d ask the staff questions when his headache dissipated. He sat outside with the steaming pot, poured a cup, downed it, feeling it scald the inside of his mouth in a desperate attempt to get him to focus on something other than the fog in his brain.

It was no good; he felt his eyes closing and his mind being tugged in all sorts of opposite directions, images flashing, all of them blurry and unfocused.

***

_There he was again; the police were fools indeed, nowhere near catching him. Certainly, how prudent it was to have eyes everywhere! Whilst the police ran around seeking for answers that vanished the instant the questions were asked, he was continuing his plan. Soon, these would have struck fear into all of the oblivious humans here._

_His next victim practically walked into him. Well, it was his fault – he was in an abandoned underpass, after all. People who used these streets, especially under the guise of darkness were true idiots… or up to no good. Human crimes were never justified – they were all so selfish. The crimes he was committing had sound logical supporting them, and once his ideal world had come to fruition, such terrible acts would be overlooked as heroism. Such was the way of the mortals – twisting the truth into something acceptable, whereas he knew his hands would be bloodied. What he was doing was wrong, but he was doing it for all the right reasons – still, he’d never live it down._

_This victim had no opportunity to even gauge the fact that he was going to die before he slammed into him. And, like he weighed nothing at all, he skidded down the street like a discarded piece of trash… which was precisely what he was. His body crashed through a heap of garbage, which was mostly splintering planks of wood and sharp metal pipes. When his target lay still again, he approached him quietly, like a thief stealing away into the night._

_He checked his watch, strangely, and the display told Ginoza that it had gone just past eleven o’clock. That was earlier than the other two victims._

_The victim himself was terrified and confused -_ Why was he lying on the ground? _His vision was blurred and indistinct. Maybe it was the blow he’d received to the back of his skull, or perhaps it was due to the sheer amount of tears pooling in his eyes from the sudden pain he’d just encountered. He’d been tossed like a rag doll onto the cold concrete sidewalk. Without being able to control it, a groan slipped out of his mouth. He could barely breathe and was completely paralysed, and he didn’t understand why; he yearned for nothing more to slip into unconsciousness and stay there, but the fire racing through his body made his mind more active than ever._

_His stomach… he slowly raised a hand to it, and felt a sharp pain jab through his palm as well. Looking down with trepidation, he saw his entire body covered with blood and liberally stabbed by large pieces of glass, bigger than set squares. At this point, he was sure they’d even pierced so deep to his internal organs. “Oh, God…” he groaned, feeling weak and nauseous._

_Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching._ No… no…! Help me, please! _Through the mist in his eyes, he vaguely saw the outline of a very pale man stood above him, his face shrouded in shadows cast by the moon above. All at once did he feel himself being dragged to his feet by the man’s strong arms, so his ear raised to his assailants mouth. “Let’s paint a picture for that dog to find.”_ Painting? He was in agony, dammit! _“You’ll be the paint.”_ **Oh.**

_The hooded man seemed to be staring at him like he was an ant he was about to squish like a grape. He couldn’t see his face clearly since he was wearing a white hooded jacket or something along those lines; however, it would be impossible to miss the smile of near-euphoria and the glint of joy in his eyes. Ginoza himself was disturbed by those eyes – he’d never seen any human have that golden shade before, and he shuddered slightly._

_In one single, rough motion, the victim found himself being flung forward incredibly rapidly … impossibly fast. He felt something hard smash into his face._ What a… most odd feeling… this was. _He was staring up at the wall of the opposite building from the floor. There was a large slather of chunky red bits strewn over the fading stucco of the building, the earth tones clashing with the dirty yellow. It looked like someone had thrown a tomato against the wall, but he wasn’t a fool, he knew that this wasn’t any kind of vegetable, but a person._

_That person… was him._

_His limps had been ripped clean off from the impact, and his abdomen had burst open into a vile conglomeration of glistening blood, entrails and other miscellaneous bodily fluids that didn’t bear thinking about. The force had been so hard that parts of him had scattered well up the wall and on the floor, where people could easily tread on him. The smell was intensely putrid; it was a splattering of raw meat after all, regardless of who it belonged to._

_And he… was a head. A severed head, ripped off at the neck, staring up at what remained of any semblance of a corpse he had in his last few seconds of life._

_But Ginoza’s focus was quickly diverted back to the guilty party. “Did you enjoy the show, spy?” It wasn’t said maliciously, and it was more like the voice of a friend than a foe. It was softly-spoken, like the voice of a man of peace, not a man of war – not only that, it was perfectly level, devoid of any emotion bar the slight lilt of happiness. “Do you know where we are?” Ginoza said nothing, but_ no, he had no idea where they were _. “Would you like me to show you?” At this point, Ginoza was certain that he was just being screwed with, but it wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter. The hooded man walked forward, almost dragging Ginoza along with him._

 _It took Ginoza a while to recognize it, but he saw the signs signifying where he was after a few seconds._ **Etai Dori. Tozai Line.** _He decided to look back and find out where the poor guy had been brutally slaughtered, and read_ **Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., General Affairs Department**. _So that would mean he was standing in Chiyoda-ku Marunouchi._

_“Now, here’s a question for you: are you going to continue your investigation which won’t get you anywhere near the truth? Or will you come here and find out who I am for yourself?”_

***

Ginoza’s eyes opened, and when he checked his watch, barely any time had passed at all – five minutes at the most, so he drained his coffee and checked the time. It was nine, so he had two hours before the murder occurred, so he quickly drained his cup of tea. It would probably be a good idea to get to the scene at half ten so he could somehow persuade the victim to avoid that area.

He’d probably have to catch a train from Shibuya Station along the Hanzomon line, and probably head to the Chiyoda ward that way. A train came every four minutes, so it wasn’t like he could miss them. Which meant he had time to ask the staff at Doutor some questions. He headed inside and moved to the counter. “Hello again, sir, is there anything more I can get for you?”

“Yes, if it’s alright, I’d like to ask you some questions. Is this okay?” he held out his police badge, and the woman nodded eagerly. “Well, first of all, last night, did you have a patron who was wearing a hoodie?”

“We have lots of those, normally, especially at this time of year,” the waitress looked down. “Sorry, I couldn’t tell you if you’re looking for a specific person.”

He needed something a little more specific than that. Then it hit him – the tea, he’d hated the tea. “Was there a customer who was fussy about their tea? Like kept sending it back, that sort of thing?” At the mention of this, the waitress’s nose wrinkled in evident distaste and she made a sound of irritation in her throat.

“Hmph!” she scowled. “There was some hipster who thought he was all that and the coolest guy around, probably because he was reading some old pretentious book. He kept ordering our finest earl grey, but he kept complaining that it was _too cold, too sweet, too strong, too weak, too this, too that_. We could hardly tell him to piss of – uh, **go away** – but we finally made a cup that he liked.”

“Did you see his face? Did he talk to any of the staff?”

“No, he wa – oh, he _was_ wearing a hoodie, now that I think about it – anyway, I didn’t see his face because of his hoodie. But he was super-pale. Like he hadn’t been out in years, which he probably hadn’t,” she sniffed. “And he didn’t talk to us other than to complain, almost like we were beneath him.”

“That’s terrible,” Ginoza agreed, trying to appease the lady’s anger. Working whilst irritated wasn’t a good thing.

“He did say something weird to Kozakura – one sec,” she disappeared into the back, where Ginoza heard her yell “ _Kozaaa_!” She emerged about thirty seconds later with a tiny girl, about sixteen or fifteen, obviously new. “This guy’s with the police. He wants to know about the conversation you had with that rude customer yesterday.”

“Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me that the police thought he was fishy,” Kozakura scowled. “When I was serving him yet another cup of tea, he, like, looked at me and asked me: ‘Is there nothing humans can do right?’ I thought he was just about to start some, like, stupid hipster conversation where they think they’re all being, like, deep, so I just answered, ‘Maybe’, ‘cause, like, I didn’t want to upset him, y’know? And then he started asking me about, I dunno, history and stuff and like, them, uh, what they called? _Okami,_ that’s it!”

Ginoza had been jotting down any information the two waitresses had been giving him. “I know that you didn’t manage to see his face, but did you, by any chance, Miss. Kozakura?”

“Ugh, not really. He was still, like, wearing his hoodie – okay, I get that’s autumn but still. He never took it off. Probably thought he was being, like, all mysterious, but to me, he just looked like a prat.” She **really** didn’t like the guy, did she? “But his voice creeped me out. It was… just different, y’know. All softly spoken like, and even though he was being, like, really rude, it made me feel like I was the guilty one. That’s really stupid.”

“Any facial features?” Ginoza attempted. “Any features at all?”

“Well, he looked like a vampire, for one,” the teenager began. _Try werewolf, Kozakura,_ Ginoza thought to himself. “Like, so pale. And his fingers were, like, really long. He was like, wearing all white, like a ghost or something. Even his, like, hair was white, too.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, he had, like, a mullet, I saw it peeking through his hood. Who the hell has a mullet, like, nowadays?”

“Business up front, party out back,” Ginoza tried to lighten the mood, and by some miracle, it worked.

“I don’t think he, like, has a lot of friends. Probably because he’s an asshole, though.”

“Most likely,” Ginoza agreed. “Thanks for your help. And just for the record, you make excellent coffee.”

After saying his final goodbyes to the two coffee shop workers, he decided that he’d have to check Club Camelot and the other coffee shops tomorrow maybe. But how was he going to do that under Kougami’s nose? Maybe he could make up something about he was visiting old friends from his childhood. He found himself thinking about it as he hurried to Shibuya Station.

He’d grown up in a Home, left there by his mother when he was nine. In a letter that had arrived one day in that first year, she’d explained herself, saying that one day she’d come and collect him again. What she’d said made little sense. Just his father had got them all into trouble, so it was safer for little Nobuchika to stay surrounded by people in a more solid upbringing than she could offer him. He hadn’t blamed her – not at all; who he’d really blamed was his nameless father he could barely remember, for not prioritizing his family before ‘getting them all into trouble’. The locket, that much he knew, had been given in person by his mother, but the faint memory had begun to fade. Whether he’d get it back, he didn’t know. And so it went with not just his own past, but everyone else’s too. It was a vain effort to try and recapture it: all the attempts of his mind eventually proved futile. The past was hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of his mind, in some material object of which he had no idea.

But he had a murder to prevent, so his childhood could sit at the back of his mind, ignored, as it always was.

The stop closest to Shin-Etsu would be the Otemachi station, which his phone told him would take thirty minutes or so by taking the Hanzomon line. He quietly purchased a ticket and boarded the next train that slotted in after about two minutes of him being there. After that, he just waited and watched the stations go by.

**Omote-sando.**

**Gaien- Mae.**

**Aoyamaicchome.**

**Hanzomon.**

**Kudanshita.**

**Jimbocho.**

**Otemachi.** Final stop.

Steeling himself, Ginoza got off the carriage and onto the platform, his legs feeling like they were about to give way. Why had he thought that this was a good idea?

Even so, he pulled his coat tighter around himself and began the fifteen minute walk to Shin-Etsu. Naturally, his hand reached up to the locket and squeezed, needing as much strength as he could get.

***

“You know, I’ve heard something pretty interesting, actually,” Shion spoke up; it had been pressing the back of her mind ever since she first heard about it. “I think it may be connected to your case, Shinya, but maybe not.”

“Why didn’t you say earlier?” the alpha wolf asked, a tad irritated.

“Because you were giving orders, and I’d hate to disturb you when you were doing that,” she rolled her eyes, making the sleek jet wolf next to her smile. “Anyway, as the social butterfly of this group, I hear lots of things from any wolf I get talking to. And, well… I was talking to Aikawa – Aikawa Tsubaki?”

“From the Mittsu pack in Kawasaki?” Yayoi asked.

“Yup, that’s the one!” Shion beamed at the fellow wolf.

“Right, what did she have to say that’s got you all interested?” Sasayama rolled his eyes, not particularly caring about who, what or where the source of information was.

“She’d heard from a cousin in Hiroshima that the Okami of Osakikamijima was killed; nobody knows how or why, but his body just floated up one day on the beach. So that’s yet another region without an Okami. And that’s not the first Okami to have died, too. Remember the Fukuoka incident too?” Shion’s voice sounded like she was talking about some juicy work gossip, and not people being killed.

“Was that where the old guy of Toho was killed five years ago by that Touma freak?” Kagari said, and Sasayama’s face darkened considerably. “You think it’s connected?”

“Must be, ‘cause his kid was popped two months ago, but the Kyushu wolves are trying to keep it on the downlow,” Shion continued. “But I don’t know why they’re targeting Kanto.”

“Yeah, so we can agree that somebody’s purposefully killing Okami,” Kougami frowned deep in thought. “Yeah, that’s going to make our job harder. Kagari, Sasayama, whilst you’re talking to the other packs, I need you to get them to help us out. We’ll need as much help as we can get.”

“Yayoi, I want you to go find the packs at Osakikamijima and at Toho as well, and explain that you’re from Kanto and we want to help them. You’re not as crazy as this lot, so hopefully you’ll be able to negotiate things.”

“That’s fine,” she nodded. “I don’t have any shows until next Friday, anyway.”

“You’re leaving me alone? Oh, Yayoi, how could you?” Shion mock-wailed, flopping her head overdramatically on top of the other wolf. “I’m betrayed. Betrayed!”

“So we’re all clear on what we have to do?” Kougami looked at each member of the pack individually. “Good. I’m going to head in the city, tell Gino that I won’t be back until later, and then I’m going to try and talk to the wolves of Tohoku, and if I have time, Kansai.”

“How is good ol’ Gino anyway?” Sasayama brightened up. “Still wearin’ those dumbass glasses?”

“That he is,” Kougami said. “He says hello, by the way.”

“Aww, what a cutie,” Shion giggled. “Not as much as our little Sho here!” she bumped into him in an affectionate gesture and the runt of the pack yelped in surprise.

“I was kind of hoping you’d all get started right away,” Kougami pointed out, but again, this was an indirect order.

“But I’m _tiiired_ ,” Shion complained.

“Tough shit,” Yayoi joked with a small smile which was shared by Kagari and Sasayama too. With that, the meeting was adjourned and the wolves all went their separate ways.

When he reached the house where he and Gino lived; strategically placed by a line of trees leading into the vast expanse of nature. The lights gleaming from the windows always acted like the beacon of a lighthouse, guiding him home. Nothing was out of place at all, and he told himself that he’d worried about nothing, and obviously must have made Gino himself anxious – he’d make up for it later. The front door was locked, as it usually was when he went out for what Ginoza referred to as ‘wolf business’, so he found the spare key hidden in a nook just above the door and let himself in.

“Gino, I’m home!” he yelled as he closed the door behind him. “I know I’m a little early, but I just stopped by to let you know I’ve got some other stuff to do, so I won’t be back until tomorrow, so don’t wait up for me!” It was strange, Ginoza was being quiet tonight – Had he decided to call it a day and gone to bed? And was Kougami disturbing him? Dime was sleeping on his cushion and raised his head to whine at Kougami.

Picking up the clothes neatly folded at the door and tugged them on. If that were true, why had Gino left the lights on? “Gino..? Hello…?” he padded into the house, looking for any signs of his apparently missing boyfriend. There was nothing out of place, except for one thing, which he only happened to find when he entered the room.

The stench of a Chubu wolf permeated the room – every surface, every corner, coated in a Chubu smell – vaguely Nagoyan, but from the countryside too. It was rare to find packs in city centres. Lone wolves, sure, leading moderately human lives. But not entire packs. But still, what had a Nagoyan wolf been doing in his bedroom?! And where the hell was Gino? Had that Nagoyan bastard kidnapped him? _Shit_. **Shit**. **_Shit._** It was only the sight of Ginoza’s slacks folded neatly on his pillow that seemed to calm Kougami; he quickly checked the bedside drawer as well – as suspected, no locket. Ginoza never went out without his locket, and when Kougami left earlier, Ginoza had been wearing the slacks.

So that meant either he’d let the Nagoyan wolf in, who was civil about the whole kidnapping business and let Ginoza get changed into something dignified… or Ginoza and the wolf had never encountered each other, and Ginoza had left before the wolf arrived. He liked the second option better than the former. In desperation, he found his phone and tried ringing his partner; obviously there was no answer. So he called Sasayama.

“You’ve reached Mitsy’s whorehouse, you got the dough, we got the hoe,” Sasayama’s voice answered immediately, followed instantly by a female voice in the background telling him to _shut the fuck up_.

“It’s me,” Kougami corrected him.

“Oh, shit, Kou, hi!” Sasayama sounded slightly guilty. “Whassup?”

“Gino’s missing, and there’s a Chubu stink in my room,” he wasted no time. “I need help tracking it.”

“Aight, aight,” Sasayama agreed. “I’ll be there in like ten minutes. Maybe less if I wanna risk a speedin’ ticket.”

***

Ginoza was walking along the street to Shin-Etsu, conscious of the time, and also fully aware that this was possibly the most idiotic and illogical thing he’d ever done with his time. Ever. He waited just in front of the underpass, not wanting to go in it and hoping the next victim hadn’t already been an idiot and headed down there.

No such man passed by in thirty minutes, when it had just turned quarter to eleven. Deciding that he was probably too late, Ginoza had two choices; either return the way he came with no answers and his time wasted, or he could carefully, warily make his way inside. Normally, he would have made a beeline for the station, but the answers – and possibly the entire truth – was waiting for him in that underpass. His feet made the choice for him as he headed into the shielded area, as a train rattled above.

 _One step… in front of the other… You are not scared_ , he kept mentally reminding himself. Truth was, he was terrified and wanting nothing more to bolt home and sleep for three hundred years and forget the entire grisly affair. This, however, was not a logical option.

“So you’re the spy, _sairou_ ,” the voice behind him didn’t belong to the killer – this voice was hard as nails, and the dark intentions weren’t masked. “It’s amazing what making your watch three hours slow can do.” The shadows were abundant in this area, and with normal human eyes, Ginoza couldn’t see anything, not even a hand in front of his face; so he sure as hell wasn’t going to see his attacker either. “I can see you.” The voice was taunting him and right by his left ear, so he lashed out, simply out of fright. His hand hit nothing, and there was a throaty laugh from within the underpass. “What we’re curious to know is how you’re watching us from afar. Or why, for that matter.”

“Oh, I don’t know – maybe because you’re killing people?!” Ginoza spat out, getting angry. “Quit hiding and tell me who the hell you are!”

“I don’t think I will. It’s funny whenever prey panics.” _Asshole_ , Ginoza wanted to reply, but it was childish. “But you probably won’t be killed. Not now, at least. Later? Most likely.” He heard a sharp inhale, the kind Kougami made when he was detecting scents of other wolves. “So, you’re the Kanto alpha.”

“What?” Ginoza was genuinely confused, before remembering that was Kougami’s official title in the wolf world. _Fucking Kougami – how was he making a bad situation worse when he wasn’t even here?!_ “I think you’ve got it wrong,” Ginoza took a step back. Maybe if he backed away enough he could somehow reach the streetlights and finally get a view of this wolf.

There was another sniff. “So I have. You would be his human, then?” Ginoza said nothing. Minute step back. Even smaller step back. Suddenly, flashing out from his left hand side was a shadow, zooming towards him. Naturally, he tried to avoid him, but he didn’t have the ability to see much, so he only lessened it slightly. Three sharp pains shot through his arm, and when he went to raise and arm to assess the damage it came away sodden. The wounds were deep, but fortunately, not that long, extending from his shoulder down to about chest height. And they stung like an absolute bitch. “No, not his human.” The voice sounded almost proud. “What are you then? Wait, wait, don’t spoil the surprise for me…” there were the sounds of someone, or something sniffing. “Oho, Hinohara! In that case, you’ll be coming with me then.”

“I will not,” Ginoza protested feebly, yet what good were his words?

“Yes, you will,” his assailant persisted.

“No, he won’t,” a second voice cut in, filled with anger… and belonged to a woman. Ginoza’s eyes were still blind. “Tougane Sakuya. Still making trouble, after all this time?”

“Who are –“Tougane Sakuya apparently had no time to answer that as there was the growling of a wolf and the snap of teeth. “Oh, you pathetic little whore!” came the cry after. Ginoza wanted to run, but his feet were paralysed to the ground, and it took every inch of his willpower to not run away screaming and attract attention to himself. “This shirt was a present from my mother!”

The voice that Ginoza heard next belonged to his saviour still, but was different – a language he’d never heard before, but fully understood. _“I don’t particularly care about the fate of your shirt or your mother. What is important is that you are brought to justice.”_

“Game on, bitch,” Tougane’s voice was dangerous, like that of a lunatic, and Ginoza heard another growl, much deeper, much louder. “ _Like you Kanto pussies could ever take on Chubu’s might!”_

Ginoza didn’t see the fight, but definitely heard it. He heard the ripping of fur and skin, howls of pain (mainly from Tougane, on that note), the scratching of razor sharp claws on the solid surface as they tried to steady themselves from the recoil of a plethora of blows. Eventually, he heard a yelp of distress followed immediately by an obnoxiously loud crack that even had him wincing. “ _Little whore bit off more than she could chew,”_ the voice that reverberated in his head wasn’t the one he’d hoped it would be. _“Have to hand it to her, she has a little bit of spirit. Now, you…”_

Ginoza felt an impossibly large wolf approaching behind him, and the wince of fear escaped before he could stop it. “Are you going to do the logical thing and come with me, or do I have to teach you the same lesson I told that bitch over there?“ Tougane was back in human form, since the words were clearly spoken.

“Neither, asshat!” came a defiant cry belonging to the female werewolf who had just come to his rescue. There was a loud bang of something metal colliding with Tougane’s skull, probably, followed by an exclamation of pain. There was a slight silence. “Wow, metal pipes are pretty handy in a pinch!” She sounded like a celebrating child, before that persona melted away. “Anyway, you, Ginoza-“Ginoza didn’t want to ask her how she knew his name. “- give me your coat. Please.”

“It’s bloody and torn, are you-”

“Please. I’m not wearing anything and it’s a bit embarrassing.” Ginoza practically ripped his coat off and stuck it out, and it was gently taken from his hands. “Let’s go somewhere with a bit more light,” her voice was friendly open. “I’ll follow you. I imagine you have some questions, but I’ll answer those later.”

Slowly, Ginoza made his way out of the underpass, back to the roads illuminated with street lights. The woman who’d saved him was a good bit shorter than him and slender too. She didn’t look like much of a fighter, but looks weren’t everything. Her eyes looked like the rocks which ships crashed on amidst a stormy sea, filled with a controlled fury, but with kindness as well. Her hair, as soft as the shell of a hazelnut, was in a bobbed style, kind of like a small mushroom. But what bothered him… “You’re bleeding.”

“So are you,” she smiled up at him. “Oh, that was kind of rude of me. I’m Red. It’s nice to meet you,” she stuck her hand out, and he took it. _What was with the alias..?_ “It’s fine, mine should heal soon. Yours, not so much.” Without thinking much off it, she quickly and carefully tore the quickly bloodying shirt sleeve off Ginoza’s arm. “Bandages.” She explained herself as she tried her damnedest to staunch the blood flow. “Your shirt was ruined anyway, believe me.” Once she was done, she looked up at the moon for a second, as if looking, listening for something Ginoza couldn’t hear. “If you trust me enough, could I drop you back at your place?”

“If that’s alright with you,” he shrugged. “I don’t really fancy facing possible death again today.” She laughed at that, a high sound that floated away on a non-existent breeze; she wasn’t like anybody he’d met before.

“My car’s parked nearby. I risked a speeding ticket chasing Tougane,” she stretched. “Ow…” she winced. Noticing his worried expression, she waved him down. “It’s fine.” They made small talk about unimportant things until they reached Red’s car, which was unexpectedly a monster of a vehicle, almost too big for her. “This thing could survive anything,” Red told him confidently. “Which is good for us.”

“So it is,” he agreed, climbing in, attempting to not move his injured shoulder.

Quietly, Red started the engine; it revved to life like the growling of an angry wolf. “So, Ginoza,” Red said, her tone curious as they turned onto the road. “What was a person like you doing in an underpass like that, knowing full well some dangerous creatures were down there?”


	4. Divination of the Oncoming Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Along with salvation, Red also brings with her predictions of destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM REALLY SORRY ABOUT THE SHEER AMOUNT OF PUNS IT WAS PAINFUL TO WRITE AND I WANTED TO DIE

“What…?” Red was unruffled by Ginoza’s apparent fear. “I… I just happened to be using it as a shortcut, and then I was attacked.”

“Ginoza, if you’re trying to make friends with anyone, my advice would be to not lie to them,” Red’s voice was sincere. “I know you find it hard opening up to people, especially people like me, but you’ll have to trust me. You came all the way from Shibuya to purposefully go Tozai Underpass.” She was matter-of-fact, but there was no malice in her words. For some odd reason, it was much easier to tell this strange woman – this strange werewolf – about the occurrences of the past couple days then it was to tell Kougami. Probably because he didn’t want to burden Kougami, or worry him either. Red also seemed to know that he knew the existence of werewolves, judging from the fact he wasn’t freaking out about the discovery.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” he sounded like a scared child (maybe that’s what he was) and caused Red to look at him with a strange softness in her eyes.

“I won’t,” she reached over a hand to touch his shoulder before returning it to the wheel. She obviously knew where she was going, and Ginoza didn’t feel like asking her how Red knew where he lived as well.

“You know about the murders happening around Tokyo?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Good point. I don’t know how to put this well, but… I… I keep seeing visions of the murders. Sometimes it’s like I’m just watching over the scene as it’s happening, and other times, it hasn’t happened yet. I had one a couple of hours ago. Someone was meant to die in that underpass around this time, so I was hoping that I could stop it. That sounds really stupid.”

“I would have done the same,” Red tried to comfort him.

“Yes, but you’re a wolf. You could tackle the guy, probably. I’m human. He would have probably killed me,” Ginoza shuddered. “I know how Fuji Hiroko died. The first murder I’m not so sure about. But I watched her be killed, and I could hear the killer’s thoughts. It’s… unsettling, to say the least,” she shivered against a chill that wasn’t there. “Red, wait. We have to go back there – if we don’t someone’s going to die in three hours!”

“If we go back there, we’ll both die,” Red told him calmly. “I’m not comfortable letting someone be killed, but there’s no point us going there.” She sounded as if she was going to cry. “I don’t care who these people are, if they’re wolves, or god, or the devil, but none of this is right.” Her fingers tightened around the wheel, knuckles turning deathly right. When he caught a glimpse of her eyes again, that pure fury was back, her face looking as though it could trigger a ferocious storm; what was going through her head right now? “And if you die, then that’s it. The war is lost before it’s begun.” Her voice was quiet.

“Red… what does that mean?” Ginoza asked, slightly afraid of the answer. She didn’t answer him. “Red, what does that mean?!”

“It means your necessary to our survival is all,” she responded, and her tone suggested that she’d let on too much. “If you were to die, I doubt Kougami would continue as the powerful leader he is today.”

“That doesn’t make much sense. Didn’t you say you’d answer my questions?”

“I did say that, yes – I just didn’t specify if they’d be ones you’d understand,” her tone wasn’t meant to be harsh, but he still felt like she was patronizing him, keeping him purposely in the dark. “Your best shot at the sort of answers you’re looking for is through Kougami.”

 “You’re a member of his pack?”

“No, I’m not,” Red replied truthfully. “Just… we’ve encountered one another once or twice. Tougane Sakuya is from an enemy pack in the Chubu region; it was likely he was targeting Kougami… and he’s now probably lying unconscious in some dingy underpass, completely naked.” She laughed, and Ginoza even smiled at the thought. “Karma certainly is a bitch, as it’s so eloquently put.”

“It sounded like he was targeting me too,” Ginoza frowned. “He called me a sairou. What’s that?” Tougane had told Ginoza that he wasn’t human either. He’d have to ask Red about that.

Red shook her head and rolled her eyes at the name. “Sairou. At one point it was used to describe wolves as a whole, but now it’s just slipped to be a derogatory term for werewolves. Kind of calling them greedy and unlikable.”

“He sounds lovely,” Ginoza chided sarcastically.

“Oh, I assure you, he’s great fun,” Red's comment was equally sarcastic.

“But that’s not the only thing he called me,” Ginoza tried to gauge Red’s expression, but it was shuttered off, but she was listening curious. “He said that I wasn’t human.”

Red screeched the car to a halt in front of Ginoza’s apartment. “And here we are!” she looked as if she hadn’t heard him, but Ginoza wasn’t going to give that up easily. He was finding some things out about this whole damned thing; even if it was confusing him and beginning to piss him off. “Kougami’s probably been worried sick.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Red,” Ginoza wouldn’t let her avoid it that easily.

“You never asked one,” she responded.

“Why did he say I wasn’t human?” Red seemed to think this over, before speaking again.

“Stay with Kougami, Ginoza,” Red told him. “Also…” Without wasting much time, Red’s hand reached out and yanked Ginoza’s collar so her mouth was positioned closer to his ear. To anyone looking in, it would look like two lovers kissing; he sure hoped Kougami wasn’t looking for him and happened to be passing by. “You’re different from that man.”

“Yeah, kinda figured that out, Red,” he said, rather awkwardly. The only person that had ever been this close proximity to was Kougami.

“You won’t die together.” Red’s voice didn’t sound like hers anymore; it was deeper, almost. When he looked at her eyes, or at least tried to, the fire that once danced in them had gone, and now they seemed dull, vacant, like she wasn’t seeing anything at all.

“What the hell?” Ginoza tried to pull away but Red was much stronger than she looked. Obviously, since she’d taken down a were-person Ginoza could only assume was bigger than her. She was tiny, so he’d imagine it wasn’t hard to do. The grip on his collar was almost intense, her hands shaking as if she had little control over them.

“Not long from now, a gale strong enough to shake our society’s foundations will blow. Your bodies weigh nothing compared to the wind, and this gale will separate you for sure.” Eyes unfocused and ears listening to something Ginoza couldn’t hear, her voice was as melodic as a host of singing angels, but as ungodly as the screeching of a thousand hellions. And then it turned soft, kind, almost… tender. “But your hearts will never be apart. I promise you that much.”

Then she lessened her grip and sat back in seat, looking… exhausted? Ginoza was only mildly disturbed by what he’d just heard; Red wasn’t all she’d appeared to be, originally. Well, she would catch anyone off guard; she looked the picture of innocence, but the blood she was swathed with probably wasn’t just hers. “What does that even mean?” he whispered.

“Stay with Kougami, Ginoza,” she sounded tired. “And here – this is for you.” She pulled open the glove compartment and pulled out an envelope. “Read it by yourself; don’t show Kougami.”

Ginoza moved to get out the car, and stepped out in front of his apartment. Red called over again: “Ginoza? You really should tell Kougami about what you’re going through. He’ll be able to help you. Also, don’t forget these, or you’ll be stuck outside.” She pulled his keys, phone and notebook out of his coat pockets. “I’ll return the coat as soon as I can. I know where you live, so it shouldn’t be so hard.”

That statement should have been creepier than it was, but Ginoza was far too tired to care. Wasn’t there a single werewolf in the city who didn’t know where he lived?

“My advice would be to ask Kougami about two things. Hinohara, and _Okami._ ” Her tone suggested that this was as much as she was saying.

“Thanks, Red,” Ginoza nodded, closing the door. It was unexplainable, really, but he knew it wouldn’t be the last time he and Red encountered each other – something was pushing the two of them together, like they shared the same fate. Whatever it happened to be, he hoped it wouldn’t be cruel. The lights were out, and he’d purposefully left them on. Oh shit. That meant Kougami had been home… this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Red had told him that much already. But the car was gone, so he didn’t appear to be in now. Whoops.

Well, at least that left him some time to read the letter Red had given him. He recognized the handwriting, and he felt his hand seeking the comfort of the locket again.

***

Sasayama’s stakeout looking for Ginoza (with a mildly inconvenienced Tohko in tow who’d been grumbling non-stop) had been going relatively badly. Kougami had sprinting off tracking Ginoza’s scent, leaving Sasayama and Tohko to follow the Nagoyan. Against his better judgement, Sasayama had decided to bring his ‘protégée’ along with him.

_“You need to get out more!” he’d yelled when she hadn’t moved from the sofa._

_“I do not!” Tohko snapped._

_“You do!”_

_“I do not!”_

_“When was the last time you went out, huh?!”_

_“Uh…”_

_“Precisely! You’ve got keener senses than me.”_

_“It doesn’t take keen senses to sniff you out, dogbreath. It’s probably because you drink so much.”_

_“That’s probably true. Come on, we’ve got a nerd to find.”_

Almost all hope of finding Ginoza was lost, and Tohko was getting bored, and cold. “Sasayama, I’m freezing.”

“What do you want me to do about it? I told you to bring a coat,” he ignored her complaints and continued scanning for Ginoza, using a picture Kougami showed him of the nerdlinger on his phone.

“We’ve been here for two hours, and while, yes, we have seen lots of nerds, we’ve not seen the specific nerd you’re looking for,” she frowned.

“These are not the nerds you are looking for,” he joked, hoping Tohko would catch the reference.

“Move along,” she replied primly. Sasayama guffawed as the student was scanning the street. “I can smell the scent we’re tracking here, it’s pretty strong. I’d wager that he was in there,” she pointed at the Tozai underpass, before sniffing again. “There’s another wolf in there. Think they’re meeting up?”

“Two wolves, both probably foreign to this region – I would say yeah,” Sasayama agreed. “Should we go down there and break up the party?”

“Oh, yes, what an excellent plan, Mitsuru. Drag me, the very person you are meant to be keeping out of danger, into a fight with two other wolves, that may or may not be trained for situations exactly like that,” Tohko’s voice had a sarcastic sting to it that made Sasayama scowl. She only ever referred to him by his first name when she was being sarcastic.

“Aight, aight, I get it – ooh, someone’s comin’ out,” he peered intently into the gloom, Tohko falling silent as she watched in trepidation too. “I hope that Gino-dork is okay. Kou’ll be shattered if he ain’t.”

“Wait,” Tohko looked at the couple emerging. “Isn’t that Ginoza?”

“Well, I’ll be damned; it’s Gino-sensei!” Sasayama sounded overjoyed, but before he could call out to the usually stern man, Tohko held him down.

“Shut up, moron, he’s with someone,” Tohko narrowed her green eyes. “I don’t know if they’re friend or foe at this point.”

“See, I would totally be screwed if I didn’t have you around – that’s how we keep ourselves alive, ain’t it?” it was said in a light-hearted manner, but even Tohko knew when her guardian was being serious.

“The way you’re handling things, we won’t be keeping ourselves alive for much longer,” she told him in confidence. Her words were true – and they stung.

“Look at who he’s with!” Sasayama indicated wildly, trying to divert the focus away from the darkness of their words. “Wearin’ his jacket too… _ohmygod_.”

“What?” Tohko snapped. Whenever Sasayama said that, it was a usual indication that he’d had a ‘brainwave’ – which were usually incredibly stupid and counter-productive, and made Tohko feel brain cells in her own head dying.

“Do you think,” Sasayama paused, almost for effect, “that they’re seein’ each other? Behind Kou’s back?”

“He really doesn’t look the type,” Tohko rolled her eyes – of course, what had she expected from ace defective, Sasayama Mitsuru?

“She’s not wearing anything under that coat,” Sasayama pointed out.

“Didn’t you call him the 1000% virgin not too long back?”

“This temptress is ruining Gino-sensei!” Sasayama only half-faked his dramatic reaction to the situation, crossing his arms and pretending to faint. “Still, I don’t know whether I should tell Kou his man’s cheatin’ on him.”

“Sasayama, we don’t even know if his man’s cheating on him,” Tohko corrected him. “Seeing him with a woman doesn’t mean he’s had sex with her. Not everyone’s like you, sleazebag.”

“Thanks,” Sasayama frowned. “Let’s try and get us a lil’ bit closer and hear what they’re sayin’…” he rubbed his hands together in delight. “Oh-ho-ho, this is great!”

“It’s really not.” They moved closer to the strange, blood covered pair (when Kirino asked her mentor for his thoughts, he shrugged and whispered the word, “Kinky”.)

“—back at your place?” the woman looked at Ginoza, standing in front of him, too close than what could be normal for friends. From his angle, it looked like she was stroking his arm, much to Sasayama’s conflicting delight and horror.

“That’s risky shit,” he whispered to himself. “Man, Gino, don’t you even know how to cheat properly?”

“He’s not cheating, dumbass,” Tohko jabbed him in the ribs.

“That’s not even the biggest problem; her tits are tiny! What are you thinkin’, Gino-sensei?!” Sasayama was flabbergasted, and he heard Kirino sigh at his perverted antics.

“Not everyone judges their romantic partner based on the size of their breasts,” Tohko sniffed.

“That’s pretty good for you then, or you’d be fucked.” The fist had collided with the side of his skull before he could gauge it. “Ow, fuck.” He sorted himself out, rubbing the tender side of face. “Maybe she’s got a great ass. Do you think he’s a butt guy?”

“Does that make him a bottom?” Tohko looked at Sasayama, who brightened up.

“Ayyyyyyy,” they whispered not a second later, both wearing matching shit-eating grins.

“They’re gettin’ in that chicks’ car!” Sasayama waved a finger. “Quick, Kirino, the batmobile!” He didn’t give her chance to reply as he dragged her to their car, which Tohko highly suspected that Sasayama had stolen several years ago. “Keep an eye on that truck, Kirino.”

“It’s hard to miss, it’s massive!” Sasayama had tried his damnedest to avoid the truck’s passengers noticing they were being tailed. “They’re going to Kougami and Ginoza’s apartment,” Kirino reasoned. “We should take another route around. Is there a quicker route?”

“Do I look like a taxi driver to you?!” Sasayama protested, but pulled the car around and began heading down a different road. “This is a shortcut. A… semi-illegal shortcut.”

“Sasayama!”

“What?! Duty calls, I have to go and look badass!”

“You are not looking badass at all!” Kirino protested, and he argued that yes he was, and she disagreed again.

The conversation carried on like that as Sasayama made semi-illegal turns to avoid toll gates as they tried in desperation to reach Ginoza’s apartment before that cheating son of a bitch did. Once again, Kirino reminded him that _Ginoza wasn’t cheating and that there wasn’t concrete evidence_. Sasayama would hear none of it. Fortunately, they did arrive at the apartment prior to Ginoza, but parked a little further away. “We’re going to commence something which I like to call ‘Operation Unbe-leaf-able’.”

“You what?” Tohko frowned.

“We’re becomin’ one with his shrubbery,” Sasayama explained.

“We’re what?!”

“No time to waste, Kirino!” he grinned, leaping out the car and shuffling under a bush, Kirino close behind him, complaining about the dirty conditions. “And now we wait…”

“Stop sounding so smug,” Tohko glowered at him, silenced by the sound of a car pulling up outside; sure enough, it was the car they’d been tailing. The two wolves-in-human-bodies watched intently, trying to commit every detail to memory; Ginoza and the woman were just talking, but all that changed when she suddenly pulled his face to hers.

“Unbe-leaf-able,” Sasayama shook his head softly. “She’s not gonna leaf him alone is she?”

“Sasayama, enough,” Tohko groaned. “Didn’t you already make that joke?”

“I be-leaf I did,” Sasayama grinned at her. “Damn, she’s frisky. Wouldn’t expect it from someone like her.” After watching the pair inside the car talk for a bit, the car door finally opened. “He’s leaf-ing her alone, Kirino,” he whispered, feeling the student’s unvented irritation increase. Only when Ginoza was inside and the woman drove away did he dare speak again.

“If you’re going to make any more puns, I will hit you,” Kirino was making a promise, not a threat.

“Aight, I’ll turn over a new leaf,” he shrugged as well as he could cramped under a bush.

“Last warning,” Tohko flashed a scary smile at him as she straightened up and began walking away to the car.

It practically slipped out automatically. “I hate it when bay leafs,” he mumbled. She heard him, and the foot was well aimed towards his nose.

***

On the steering wheel, Kougami’s hands were shaking; out of fear or anger, he didn’t know. His anger wasn’t directed at Gino, there was no way it could be – but rather at the Nagoyan wolf. However, Sasayama’s charge, Kirino, had reasoned that it would be better for her and Sasayama to follow the scent of the Nagoyan wolf. The last thing this town needed was yet another murder. That girl was sensible; had her head screwed on right. But he was still scared.

Chubu wolves in Kanto territory. Kanto and Chubu wolves were enemies; nothing good came of it. And a Chubu wolf had been in his apartment. Were they looking for him? Had they got Gino?!

The sharp ringing of his cell snapped him out of it; a quick check of the caller ID affirmed it to be Sasayama and he picked it up. “What? I’m still following Gino’s scent, but it vanished at Shibuya so I’m driving around trying to pick it up again.”

“Oh, yeah, Gino,” Sasayama’s voice sounded slightly nasally, like he was holding his nose. “He’sh, uh… at your houshe. He got there ‘bout firty mins ago.”

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?!” Kougami practically roared into the receiver.

“Uh, I, forgot,” Sasayama didn’t sound so sure about that. “I was alsho unconschioush.”

“What happened?”

“Kiri kicked me in the fashe,” he explained.

“He was making puns again, you know how he gets,” Tohko explained herself.

“You did the right thing, Kirino,” Kougami allowed relief to flood through him, finally relaxing. “Well, I’ll be heading home. I need to make sure that he’s alright.”

“Uh, before that,” Sasayama spoke up again, “you might wanna check out Shin-Etshu. I got a shtrong whiff o’ two wolves there which I din’t know. I really fink you should see if you know ‘em. I dunno if they’re hostile or not.” Unbeknownst to Kougami, Kirino had made Sasayama promise to not breathe a word about the woman they’d seen Ginoza with. “One of ‘em was our Nagoyan shtinker, so I figured that you’d be intereshted. And, um, Gino-shenshei was there as well. I dunno why though.”

“Shin-Etsu?” That was a bit random. “Well, I’ll see you later.” He disconnected the call. What had Ginoza been doing in Chiyoda-ku Marunouchi? He had no reason to be there, but if the Nagoyan had been there too… was it possible that they were watching Ginoza now? Were they following him? He placed another call, to the most sensible member of the group. “Yayoi, change of plans.”

“Whatever’s the matter?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“I need you to watch my apartment,” he said briefly. “And look for a Nagoyan wolf, or someone who smells like they’re from Chubu. One of them was in our apartment while we were at the meeting, so it’s possible he’s targeting Ginoza. From what I know, Ginoza’s at home, but I can’t leave him undefended. I’ve got some stuff to do in Chiyoda-ku, but I should be back soon.”

“I understand,” she replied in a soft-voice. “You’re worried about your loved one; I would be the same way if it was Shion.” There were some indistinct words in the background, and Yayoi agreeing with something. “Shion would like you to know she’s sorted everything with Amari and Torii. They’ll start looking into things, but they’d like a scent to use, first. Could you get hold of one?”

“Probably. That’s why I’m going to Chiyoda. I’ll meet you at my apartment – I should have it by then.” Shinya’s voice was hard, like he was making business deals. This was the voice of an alpha, Yayoi knew, and she couldn’t defy it.  

“I’ll see you then.” It was her who ended the call. After that, Kougami pressed down the accelerator and sped to Chiyoda-ku, his frown worsening. Just what was going on? Why had Chubu chosen now, of all times, to come swarming into Kanto again? With a horrifying thought about it ending up as it did last time, Kougami was sure he was driving himself mad already, but he had to keep himself calm.

The first time Ginoza had ever seen him as a wolf was when he was pissed and laying into some bastard who thought it acceptable to try and kill the alpha. After that, it had taken months and months to get him to trust him again – it was terrible, since he thought he was about to lose the one thing that kept him in line – and he didn’t want to risk losing it again.

Nobody wanted a repeat of Hinohara. Even now, the memories plagued him, as they did every other wolf who fled that accursed village that night.

The scent was staggering at Shin-Etsu; he nearly missed the faint smell of a second wolf due to the Chubu stench reeking up the place – it was doubtless that Kirino had smelt this, and if Sho was here, he’d pick it up instantly too. Kougami had to stand there and truly inhale. Faintly, underneath the musk of two wolves, he picked up something much worse. Ginoza, and the scent of blood.

He was running into the underpass before he knew it. It took every inch of his remaining self-control to not wolf out there and then. In the underpass, he saw everything as clearly as he did in the shadows as he did in the light, and had to tell himself that Ginoza was fine, he was at home where Yayoi was protecting him.

Still, he felt slightly sick when he saw an abandoned blood-splattered metal pipe lying next to a rather coagulated pool of blood. The blood on the pipe wasn’t Ginoza’s, which was a small miracle in itself, but it was the smaller quantities of blood. The other one, he pressed a finger into and sniffed at it. Fear pooled in his stomach and he felt lightheaded; it was Ginoza’s.

What was to say he wasn’t at home, bleeding out?

No, he had to trust Sasayama. If he said Ginoza was fine, then he was fine. He moved on. There were two sets of shredded clothing here, one of them smelling of perfume and evidently belonging to a female, and the other one was the Nagoyan bastard; both of them had transformed fully clothes, which generally wasn’t advised. It must have been a pretty desperate situation, and judging from the state of the floor, with random blood splatters smattering all over the floor and deep ridges caused obviously by claw marks. Carefully, he picked up the largest scraps of clothing and pocketed them. He’d hand them to Yayoi later, but to make the scent stronger, he matched which of the blood on the ground belonged to each wolf and doused the appropriate cloth in it. Hopefully that would be enough for Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa to work with – if they were to be trusted at all.

With that, he’d decided that his work was somewhat completed, and he headed back to his car, mulling over this new information in his head. His contemplation, however, was ruined by a voice, polite and high, belonging to a woman. Almost instinctively, he smelt the air and confirmed that it was the female wolf who had been hanging around here before with the Nagoyan chump – was she the insider?

“Easy, Kanto Alpha,” she held her hands out in a soothing gesture. She didn’t look like she’d been in a fight, but a cut on one of her palms told him that she had. “I’m not here to fight with you.” That wasn’t what intrigued him though; no, she was wearing Ginoza’s coat. Ginoza’s shredded and blood-soaked coat on that note.

“You’re wearing his jacket,” he stated simply.

“Yes, Ginoza lent this to me,” she told him honestly. “I think that it’s just manners to offer a lady a jacket when she’s in a state of undress.” She was messing with him, he’d decided. “Obviously, you wouldn’t know that.”

“What do you want with Gino?”

“Me? Nothing.”

“Why are you wearing his jacket?” Kougami spat.

“I already told you,” she was definitely screwing with him, and he didn’t have time for it.

“Alright then. Why were you with Ginoza? You’re a wolf, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you could smell me, that’s for damn sure.”

“That I could.”

“What were you doing with Gino?!” he growled, sure he was going to transform at any given moment.

“If you must know, he was doing his own little investigation while you were pratting around in the woods acting important, and he was attacked by Tougane Sakuya, one of the wolves of the Chubu Alpha Pack. Of course, you would be totally unaware of this, doing your important alpha things.” The words came like a slap to the face; nobody disrespected the alpha, but apparently she had no qualms about doing so. There was a hidden implication of guilt in her words: _You should have been protecting him, so he wouldn’t get hurt. If he didn’t get hurt, then I wouldn’t have had to step in._ “After that, I knocked Tougane out, patched up your boyfriend’s wounds, and took him home with some parting advice, from one Hinoharan to another.”

“Gino’s not Hinoharan.” _Is he?_

“Oh, my mistake. I must have confused your scents.” _You don’t sound so sure of that, Alpha._ “Saying that, maybe I didn’t.”

“Are you trying to seduce Gino?” His question was so oblivious, it caught her off-guard. “How do I know you’re not working with that Tougane bastard? How do I know that you didn’t set up the entire scenario to trick Gino?” She was laughing at his expression. “Hey, drop the smartass act.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she waved him down. “I don’t like alphas, and I like alpha males even less. I’m not seducing your boyfriend, Kougami; to be quite honest, I’m not interested. He’s hardly the pinnacle of sex appeal and charisma.” Of course he got awkward; such was the Ginoza Nobuchika way. “And you’re going to have to trust me when I say that I’m not helping Chubu.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to take you up on that one,” Kougami scowled. “Why the hell should I trust you?”

She took a step closer to him, and though it made very little sense to be scared of her, her presence was intimidating, so he took a step back. Sensing his unease, the brunette stopped and simply brought her wrist up to her mouth. Wasting little time, she made a small incision in her wrist. A jewel of scarlet appeared on the cut, which slowly wended its way down her wrist. Kougami took a sniff.

“You’re from Hinohara too?” Kougami was stunned – she really was his friend. Whereas a majority of wolves in Kanto were from Hinohara, they rarely met in person, avoiding each other like the plague. But there was an unspoken pact between Hinoharans; in cases of emergency, they would band together. The woman nodded. “What does a Hinoharan want with Gino?”

“You remember Hinohara, don’t you?” she looked down, almost sadly.

“Who doesn’t?” he sighed, feeling at ease. That changed as the woman approached him again, and pulled him down to listen to her next statement.

“The second storm is coming, Kougami. The tragedy of Hinohara will be repeated, and at this point, there’s no more turning back.”

“What does that have to do with Ginoza? He’s not from Hinohara, so he’s not involved! At least, he shouldn’t be.”

Her voice stopped being friendly, and turned mildly otherworldly, and her next few words made his body lock up in utter paralysis, his blood running cold. “The storm will blow you apart. After that, you won’t see each other again; you won’t die together.”


	5. Memories of a Sacrificial Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The predictions by Red bring up memories of the tragedy of Hinohara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, out of all the chapters, this is possibly the most messed up. The first part's relatively okay to read, and the rest is what happened in Hinohara. It's hardly pleasant.

Ginoza was stood in the kitchen carefully dabbing the blood off his wounded shoulder when Kougami finally got back. “What happened?” he asked, dropping his coat on the floor – irking Ginoza no end, assuredly – and rushing towards him, trying to check the wounds.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” This was obviously not true, but for some reason, Ginoza’s voice was stiff and standoffish, and he contemplated covering up the wound, but considering that his shirt was torn, it would be a difficult thing to do. Kougami carelessly brushed his hands aside and leaned into Ginoza to look at the deep gashes on his arm.

“Are these from the werewolf I smelt in Tozai Underpass?” he sighed. There was no point lying. “His name was Tougane or something like that.”

“Yeah,” Ginoza assented. Kougami stepped away to go the medical supplies cupboard and nearly yanked it off his hinges with excessive force. “It’s alright. Red managed to stop him before he did anything else.”

“The fuck is Red?” Kougami frowned, pulling out bandages, various ointments and tape before walking back to Gino and carefully undoing the makeshift bandage that the creepy woman had told him she’d set up. What was her problem, anyway? If she really was Hinoharan – which she was, undoubtedly – then she’d stop being so damned cryptic and tell Kougami what the hell was up.

“She saved me, I guess,” Ginoza shrugged.

“Did she look vaguely like a small mushroom that was just as vaguely pissed off about something?”

“Yes,” Ginoza let out a small laugh before wincing as Kougami gently probed a finger against the wound.

“Just making sure nothing’s broken,” he explained himself.

“I think I’d be able to tell,” Ginoza responded.

“You are the worst patient,” Kougami grumbled as his hands gently rubbed antibacterial location on the cuts, making Ginoza grit his teeth. It felt like someone was rubbing salt on them. In silence, he pressed a gauze pad on Ginoza’s arm, stroking his arm when he made a noise of slight aggravation. With a surprising level of force, he ripped tape from the dispenser, before pressing another piece of gauze next to the first one, and tearing off another shred of tape. Once the bandages were firmly in place, Ginoza moved away from Kougami’s touch, hoping the wolf would have no idea how guilty he was feeling, and hoping it would take the edge off the conflicting feelings deep in his mind. Red’s voice haunted him still. Kougami reached out and ran his fingers along the last piece of tape he placed on the bandage.

“Thanks,” Ginoza looked away, red patches already appearing.

“No problem,” Kougami replaced the medical supplies back in their cupboard and noted with some distaste that he’d pulled the cupboard door out of place. No doubt he’d have to fix that at some point tomorrow.

“You’re not angry?” Ginoza sounded genuinely surprised, and sort of guilty. Ginoza Nobuchika never admitted that he was in the wrong – ever.

“No,” Kougami looked at him in an expression that just fell short of confusion. “Why should I be?”

“Well, I’ve lied to you. More than once.”

“Must have been for a good reason,” Kougami shrugged it off. “You’re not the kind of person who lies just for the hell of it. That’s not you. Anyways, I don’t think we should go into work tomorrow. We don’t know who’s out there.”

“Tougane Sakuya and Red, for two,” Ginoza supplied. “Besides, we have to go in. There’s going to be a murder tonight.”

“We assume there’s going to be a murder tonight,” Kougami corrected him. “We don’t have enough data to support the one-murder-a-night theory.”

“There’s going to be a murder at one o’clock in the Tozai Underpass. We’ll find the body tomorrow splattered on the Shin-Etsu Chemical Company’s wall. Believe me.” He looked almost worried that Kougami wasn’t going to.

“What makes you say that? Okay, we can assume there’s going to be a murder, but that was a little precise,” Kougami sounded worried, and Ginoza turned over the truth in his head; how was he going to tell Kougami about it that didn’t make it sound like he’d gone totally insane?

_“Hey, I’ve seen two people get murdered and hey, it actually became real! What do you know!”_

Nope.

_“Okay, well, basically I’ve become a psychic that specializing in seeing people get murdered. It’s not a great talent.”_

That wouldn’t work either.

_“I see dead people.”_

Definitely not.

“Gino…?” Kougami pressed him, getting worried by Ginoza’s strange silence. Normally, the man was reserved but it wasn’t like him to keep secrets, especially about things which were bothering him; as he often said, two heads were better than one.

“I just know,” Ginoza finally said. That wasn’t much better, to be honest, he thought to himself, before continuing on at Kougami’s confused face. “It’s just… I see it. I can see them being killed.” He pulled out a chair from underneath the kitchen table and sat down. “I can’t describe it well, but…”

“It’s fine, take your time,” Kougami knelt in front of him, looking at Ginoza’s semi-tormented face.

Inhaling a deep breath, Ginoza launched into his story. “I saw Fuji Hiroko’s death the night when I went to bed early. It was like I was walking in the killer’s shadow, sort of watching, but not being able to do anything. It was terrible. I didn’t call out for him to leave her alone; I was scared that I’d be noticed. Why didn’t I…?” his hands curled into fists. He was pathetic, weak, a coward; was there a possibility that he could have prevented Fuji’s death? “But I… don’t think he noticed me.”

“Did you see his face, anything at all?” Kougami asked, before pausing – he should have asked how Ginoza was doing first. “It’s not your fault, Gino. I don’t think I could have made a noise in that kind of situation.”

“He was looking for targets that night. He strikes indiscriminately and randomly.”

“Like a fucked-up Grim Reaper,” Kougami shuddered. “What then?”

“He hates humans, and when he saw Fuji come out from the bar – he hated her, he could sense how bitter she was, and he hated her for it – he followed her to Club Camelot. Up until then he’d been sitting in Doutour Coffee Shop waiting for someone like her to pass by. After that he followed her to Club Camelot and waited in another 24-hour café and followed her until she was out of public eye and… and killed her.”

“You must have seen her die,” Kougami sounded a little helpless. Maybe he was. “Gino, I’m sorry, that must have been terrible.”

“He strangled her so she couldn’t make a noise, and you know the rest,” Ginoza muttered. “I… I have to go back to Shibuya. I need to… I need to see if there’s anybody who saw him. I was there this evening.”

“I know,” Kougami sighed. “I got worried when you weren’t at home, so I went looking for you. I think that Tougane creeper was in here at some point.”

Ginoza’s expression looked terrified. _Oh, shit. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned that,_ Kougami scolded himself.

“He was in our house?!” Ginoza spat, lurching forward so suddenly it made his scars twinge in pain.

“Yeah…” Kougami admitted. “It’s probably not anything to worry about, though. Probably. Besides, didn’t you say Red beat the shit out of him anyways? My guess is that he ran his ass away, his tail between his legs.” Ginoza didn’t believe him, but it was a problem for another day. “So, you said you were in Shibuya. Let me guess, you were trying to look into this stuff on the quiet.”

“Essentially,” Ginoza assented, watching Kougami stretch up and move around to the counter.

“D’you want a drink?”

“Tea, please,” Ginoza replied – the carers at the Home told him that tea was good for ‘calm down time’ – before carrying on, opening the notebook that he’d discarded on the table when he’d entered, prioritizing his injury over the investigation. “I found some things out. Apparently Fuji Hiroko suggested to a waiter at TRUMPROOM that she would rather die than live the life she was leading. Would it be possible for a werewolf to hear her across the street and through a glass, with all the people talking?”

“Depends on the wolf,” Kougami shrugged. “Wolves and humans aren’t that different, when you think about it. Everybody’s got different levels of skill. But even with hearing that acute, it’s unlikely he heard her.”

“So I worked out that he was probably waiting in Doutour, right across the street,” Ginoza jabbed his notebook. “However, our murderer is also an asshole.”

“And here’s me, believing he was everything that was good in the world.”

“He kept sending his tea back, apparently, and was really annoying the staff, which, unfortunately for him, made him memorable. He was wearing a white hoodie, so his face wasn’t clear to the staff. Apparently he was pale, and I quote, ‘like a vampire’. Are you going to tell me they exist now, too?”

“God, no,” Kougami laughed. “Vampires never even existed in the first place. Though I have to hand it to Bram Stoker, he managed to terrify people into believing some bloodsuckers existed.”

“Right, anyway,” Ginoza peered over his glasses at his notes, which had gotten quite sloppy in his hurry to jot everything down. “Apparently one word that was used to describe him was white. Donned fully in white, and wearing a hoodie so nobody could see his face. His hair was white too, and styled into a mullet. And one of the waitresses said her voice creeped her out.” Kougami was listening intently whilst busying himself with tea-making, mulling it over in his head. “His eyes were golden too. At this point, I can definitely confirm that a human isn’t killing these people. But he didn’t seem like a wolf, either. He didn’t transform for either Fuji or the person today’s deaths.”

“If the person you saw is to be killed today, then it could be preventable,” Kougami suggested. “My pack is still relatively active, even at this hour. I could get Kagari and Sasayama to go check it out.”

“They won’t stand a chance,” Ginoza told Kougami, balling his fists. “We can’t stop this guy, not like this. He’s trying to purposefully lure you or me out – I don’t want you or any of your pack getting hurt. Don’t just rush into this. We’ll have to let the death happen.”

“And you’re happy with that?”

“No. But if we go now, we’ll definitely be killed.” He was essentially repeating Red’s words back at Kougami, but she’d done little but help him thus far. He was sure she could be trusted. But still, the episode she’d had in her truck left him just a bit shaken; reverberating in his ears still was that voice, godly and unholy all at the same time. “The best choice will be to try and find out what’s going on.”

Almost right on cue, Red’s parting advice flew through his mind. _“My advice would be to ask Kougami about two things. Hinohara, and Okami.”_ Well, there was no better time than the present.

“Kougami, what’s Hinohara?”

Kougami visibly flinched; and Kougami was always relatively stoic about most things – it would take one hell of a lot to scare or shock him. Taking in a somewhat shaky breath, he broke eye contact with Ginoza and began drinking his own drink slowly, focused on his shaking hands. “I’ve heard it mentioned before. Tougane said it to me after he cut up my shoulder.” A minute twitch in Kougami’s jaw told him that mentioning the Nagoyan wolf was probably not a good idea and was pissing him off.

_“No, not his human. What are you then? Wait, wait, don’t spoil the surprise for me…Oho, Hinohara!”_

What had he meant? Something in Ginoza’s head told him that Kougami wouldn’t have the answer to this one, but Red would. Despite feeling a need to go and find Red again and demand answers properly this time, it was unlikely that he would receive them. Which left him one option: to piece them together himself. One minute turned into two minutes, and two minutes turned into five minutes, and still Kougami had not breathed a word about the nature of _Hinohara_ , this foreign word which Ginoza had seldom had reason to use.

“Well, you’ve heard about Hinohara, haven’t you?” Kougami finally said. “It’s practically an urban legend, told at sleepovers as a scary story that’s meant to keep you up at night.” _That’s precisely what it is,_ is what he didn’t mention.

“I do remember hearing things here and there about it,” Ginoza answered carefully. It was all vague, but he’d heard it in the orphanage – _oh, face it, that was what it was; let’s drop this ‘Home’ crap_ – from a boy he used to share his room with. Generally, the two got on well enough, but the boy, whose name slipped Ginoza’s mind, which was terrible of him, considering the years they’d spent together, was a fan of classical music, often blasting it as loud as he could. He also revelled of spooking Ginoza at every opportunity, and Ginoza was 100% certain that his fear of ghosts had developed from his childhood friend. Dammit, what was his name? “One of my friends when I was a kid told me about it, but aside from that, no. He called it the Ghost Village.”

If he was that way inclined, Kougami would have probably crossed himself.

“Kougami, just tell me. What’s Hinohara? What’s so terrible about it?”

“How long’s it been? God, nearly… twenty years,” Kougami seemed to be talking to himself. “To think, I haven’t been home in twenty years.” He ran a hand through his hair, almost looking semi-insane, before calming himself. “Hinohara was where I was born, Gino. It’s about thirty minutes away from Tokyo, and well, up until about twenty years ago, it was where all the Kanto packs were located. Wolves work better together in large packs, as you know. It was great there.”

He sounded wistful as he continued on.

“I loved it there. Full of nature, I could wolf out whenever I wanted, run free. I hate being cooped up like this.” Judging from Ginoza’s expression, he’d taken it as a personal attack. “No, I love living here with you, but you just wouldn’t get it. Being in this sort of body doesn’t make me feel right.” He clenched his fists again. “Anyway, Hinohara. It was the best place for a kid to grow up. It had schools, shops, shrines, and everything was run by wolves or humans who worked alongside the werewolf community to make it work. It _did_ work.”

He looked away, before tugging his wallet impatiently out of his pocket, and rifling through it with a desperation in his fingertips, before finding a crumpled piece of paper. After unfolding it, he threw it at Ginoza, almost like it was a poisonous viper ready to bite him at any opportunity it got. If that was the way he felt about it, then why had he bothered to keep it. The family depicted a rather large group all beaming at the camera, and whilst it was a little fuzzy around the edges, it was easy to tell who these people were. In the centre of the picture stood a mop-haired little boy holding the hand of a taller but equally messy-haired girl; this boy was undoubtedly Kougami, even though he’d changed quite a bit. Above him were two adults; his mother had the slightest semblance of wrinkles forming on her cheeks, and grey eyes that were shining, and his father, Ginoza could only assume, was where he got the ridiculous messy-hair from. He was already greying at this stage. In front of those two but slightly to the side was a boy who looked very similar to Kougami in his teenage years.

“That was me and my family back in the day,” Kougami nodded at it. “That’s’ my sister, Haruna, who I’m holding onto. And that guy there’s my brother, Kouki. And they’re my parents. And the rest are my aunts and uncles and cousins and so on. I think we were the largest family in the entire town.” He grinned at that. “There wasn’t a single person who didn’t know the name Kougami – you’d see one, and in the next minute, you’d see another one. I was, uh, the baby, of the family. Haruna had three years ahead of me, and when I was born, Kouki was eleven? Ten?” he shrugged, before reaching over and sliding the photograph back towards him. “It should be terrible that I don’t even remember details like that about my family, but that’s what it is.”

“Where are your family now?” He’d never mentioned them before.

“About eighty percent of them are about six feet under Hinohara.” The directness of his statement felt like he’d punched Ginoza, who then began to feel dense and kind of insensitive. He should have picked up straight away since Kougami had been using past tense. “A couple of my cousins and aunts are still alive. Last I heard from ‘em was them wishing me good luck in my entrance exams. Then they ditched me in a boarding school when I got the scholarship.”

It had been the same with Ginoza, too.

“It was going great. I was hardly a popular kid, but I had some good friends. Do you think it’s fucked up that I don’t even remember their names? I don’t even remember their faces?” Kougami was challenging him, trying to convince Gino he was a terrible person.

“Not at all. I don’t remember lots of people from the orphanage,” Ginoza attempted to calm him. Mentioning Hinohara had upset him. A wolf village, huh?

“Yeah, there was only four of us in our little group. Sasayama was one of them – he escaped with me,” Kougami continued, ignoring Ginoza’s try at comfort. Nothing could comfort him about Hinohara. “It was a peaceful place. The Okami of our village was a good, solid leader; just like a mentor to all the young ones. He was teaching my sister how to paint. She was good at painting, I think. She liked painting flowers most of all. She really loved flowers.” He was trying his damnedest to remember everything he could about Haruna, about Kouki, about his parents; just anyone, anything. Otherwise, Hinohara really would be dead. “Christmas. It happened just before Christmas. I was getting really excited; believe it or not, I was a bit of a weirdo back then.”

“You’re a weirdo now,” Ginoza’s tone was filled with more affection than cruelty, and Shinya smiled slightly.

“Thanks, Gino,” the smile vanished.

“What’s an Okami?”

“I guess the closest definition to them would be wolves with special abilities jobbing wolves don’t have. They’re leaders of the regions, and a region can’t thrive without one. And we don’t have one now, so we’re fucked if an invasion happens.”

“What does it have to do with Hinohara?”

“I’m getting to that part. It started with some kid from another family; she went out with her mom and never came back. They found their shoes in front of a tree. We sent out a search party to look for them. They didn’t come back either. Just shoes, lining the outskirts of the village. Eventually, people tried to just leave the village, but the outcome was the same. Shoes, shoes, shoes. Everywhere. A reminder. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out. We were stuck in that little haven. And yeah, while we were scared, it was fine; the Okami would protect us. Out of my group of friends, I was calming everyone down. We stopped having to go to school, since the adults were trying to find out what was going on. So was the Okami.”

He gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes. “Then, the first body showed up. Right on the school house building. Stripped naked and left hanging there. After that, the Okami decided malicious play was at work and summoned all the packs in the village. Lead by the alpha pack, they started the hunt looking for whoever was doing it. The six alphas went out hunting – including the Okami, my father, Sasayama’s uncle, and the parents of the other two friends I had – I think one of them was a girl, and she was left with her grandmother. She cried a lot, but who could blame her. Then, one by one, the bodies started showing up again, and again, and again. First, my father. His headless body was left on my doorstep and his head left dangling from the doorframe. It was fucked up.

“That wasn’t all. The next day, my friend’s mother showed up. I thought that she’d never stop screaming. She went near mad and tried attacking one of the senior wolves, blaming them, but luckily for her, our other friend held her back. Lucky he did, really. Knowing her, she would have torn him to pieces. Saying that, I shouldn’t be saying that – I don’t even know her name, after all. The next day, it was her father, and after that, she was different. Colder, more logical, but still kind. I had to be strong for the rest of my family, so I couldn’t afford to break down and start screaming like her. Everyone was having a shit time.

“They all turned up, except the Okami. And then, on… the twenty-third, I think it was, anyway, everyone came back.”

“Came back?” Ginoza had an idea about what Kougami was implying, but he didn’t want to entertain it; the very notion of it was very macabre. No, it was impossible.

“All the one’s who’d gone missing. Everyone who’d been murdered. They all came back. My dad, my friend’s parents… the people who tried to leave. They all came back. I knew we should have burned those fucking shoes!” He banged his fist on the table, shocking Ginoza. “Sorry. It’s-just-”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry, Kougami,”

“Not your fault. Naturally, at first, everyone was happy to see them. It was the Okami; he must have sacrificed his life for us. Everyone was just so blind.” He took several calming breaths. “That was, until one kid from the village ran up to see her dad, and she went over and hugged him. She was so lost without him. I didn’t talk to her much, but I tried to stop her. It was no use, she went anyway. And do you know what that father did to his beloved little girl?”

Ginoza didn’t want to know. The tale was already making him want to cry out of pure fear. So he remained silent and shook his head.

“Snapped her fucking neck, like she meant absolutely fucking nothing, that’s what.” His tone was bitter, filled with previously unvented rage. “That’s when shit hit the roof. I ran back to find my siblings, but when I got there, Haruna and Kouki hid me in this secret compartment we had in our wardrobe. And they told me that they’d come and get me. That everything was going to be okay. They gave me something to protect myself if I had to. A good old solid wooden baseball bat. Who the fuck gives that to a kid?!” His voice suggested that he was going to cry; but the look in his eyes told Ginoza that the time for tears had long since passed. “I was an idiot, so I opened the hatch just a little. I saw my dad there, this big, gory gash, right across his neck,” he indicated where with his own thumb. “My mother was trying to stop him, and whilst she was good at sword fighting, my father was an alpha wolf. It’s rare you win against an alpha, and I suppose that the fact she loved him didn’t help. He killed her, Haruna and Kouki too. And then he started speaking: ‘ _Shiiinyaaa, are you hiding? Are we playing a game, Shinyaaaa?’”_ He gripped the empty cup so hard it shattered, but he ignored it. “I thought the old bastard was going to kill me. So I waited until he had his back to me, and made my way out all quietly. He was looking for me, with this real fucking scary look in his eyes. I could have nightmares about it for years. _‘Shiinyaaa, don’t you trust me? Come on, Shiiinyaa, you’re not being very fair.’”_

“What did you do after that?” Ginoza didn’t want to know; he regretted asking about Hinohara, he regretted ever getting involved.

“I beat the old bastard’s skull in before he could do the same to me. I picked up my father’s sword and then I ran my ass out of there.” Ginoza was horrified; Kougami was a gentle person – he made jokes, he laughed easily, he always got worried he was hurting Gino – and the same person had beaten a family member to death when he was merely a child. “It left me pretty fucked up for years, but we’ll get onto that later. I was worried about my friends, so I headed over to that female friend I mentioned before. Her parents had fucking torched the place, and I pretty much did the same to them as I did my parents. Unfortunately, her father noticed and began picking me up by my neck and yeah, I thought I was going to die. Then my friend came out, picked up that sword and didn’t stop stabbing her father until he stopped moving. That night, anyone left alive was insane. Scared out of their heads. I ran my ass away with her, but she began screeching. I should have let her die, who the hell did I think I was, killing her parents… so on. I couldn’t say anything to that, could I?

“All of a sudden, everything went quiet. All the people who vanished stopped moving. Like they were on puppet strings, and they stood there, all useless. And then a chant started up from some of the fighters still left alive: _send the dead back to death. Send the dead back to death._ ” He clamped his hands over his ears. “Nobody was fucking sane in that village! It was absolute fucking carnage!”

“Kougami, calm down!” Ginoza leapt out of his seat and ignored the possibility he may have reopened one or two of the scars, and rushed over to Kougami. “Hey!”

“Sorry,” Kougami spat out. “Look at me, getting all pathetic. No, it doesn’t end there, Ginoza. It never really did end.”

“What happened… then?”

“They appeared. The alpha pack of the Chubu wolves,” Kougami breathed the word with so much vehemence, Ginoza felt the hatred radiate from him. “Gloating, sneering. Calling out to us that they came to ‘fix’ Hinohara’s impurities.”

“Impurities?”

“Runts of packs, half-wolves.” At Ginoza’s surprise, he looked up, still tense. “Oh, come on, it was a wolf-human co-habited village. It was kind of inevitable at some point. And for the Chubu wolves, also humans. Said they were going to… going to lead to our downfall. They weren’t equal to us. They needed to be taught that our race was to be feared. Since Kanto had always been open-minded, we were going down a path to ruin. And the Okami, he was coming to help us survive. But do you know what pissed me off? The bastard could have only been a little bit older than me. And instead of kicking a ball around like a regular snot-nosed little jerk, he was committing genocide.

“I didn’t see his face. It was night-time, but I just knew he was the same age as me. And he had one of my best friends next to him, knife against his neck. Behind him, his muscle guys had hold the Okami. I loved that old man like my grandfather. He was never too busy to listen to the stupid worries of a kid like me; looking back, they were really insignificant. But that old man never treated them like they were. And then, do you know what those assholes did? Tore the Okami apart right in front of his own son, limb-by-limb. I’ll never forget how hard my best friend screamed that day. Sometimes, if I get too lost in thought, I end up hearing it and it brings me right back to reality. And there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do to help him!”

“Did they… did they kill him, too?”

“Fuck knows. I didn’t see him after that. But I made sure to let that Chubu dickwad know I wasn’t done with him. I told him that one day, I was going to claim his fucking head and send him straight back to the hell he came from. He should have killed me right there and then, but he didn’t. He simply told me that he looked forward to seeing me in future before dragging my best friend away. I escaped with Sasayama and the other friend to one of the safehouses in another village, who took us in when they heard what happened. But they wanted us out their hair soon as possible, so I was shipped off to boarding school, and Sasayama was adopted by someone in maintown Tokyo, since he was too fucking stupid for school, but we kept in touch. We made our own little pack, just us too, and we kind of increased in numbers. The girl ran off one night, and she’s probably been killed at this point. She was a feisty one, too – she didn’t give in, even after that. It should have been the other way around, but it was her encouraging me.”

“Is this how you became the Kanto alpha?”

“I was expecting more of a fight, but after beating the shit out of more than a few Chubu wolves, well, what d’ya know. Kanto alpha. If anyone dared knock me off that pedestal, I’d knock them straight back down. I had to let that Chubu Okami know that I was the strongest in the entirety of Kanto, and I was coming to kill him. You already saw me like that, though.” He took a cigarette out and lit it, calming him down.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Easy. I want satisfaction. I want revenge. Even if the result is getting to feel self-satisfied, I want to strike a blow against Chubu. That's all. As for whether that'll bring about any change, well, I have major doubts."

Ginoza looked down. He had no idea Kougami had something like that lurking in his past; he’d always thought that there was something dark there, but not blood-soaked.  "By the way you talk, it sounds hopeless."

"It is hopeless."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't know, it's a thing in Japanese culture to take your shoes off before committing suicide. Also I'm sorry about this chapter. It fucked me up to write.


	6. The Reaper that Descends in Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for the Nagoyan wolf continues, as Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa head straight into the heart of the Chubu region. Naturally, nobody quite knows just who their enemy is, or how powerful they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to take a break from Ginoza and Kougami's tale of woe, and focus on my two heterosexual-life-partners from Kanshikan Kougami Shinya.

After Yayoi had given both Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa the scraps, the two of them had set out nearly straight away. Since Torii was a writer, she had no job to really take a break from, but Amari had to ring up and feign a terrible story (as per Tsubasa’s hurriedly written instructions) about a grandmother on deaths door. After that, they’d taken a break and started tracking the scent of the Chubu wolf first, deciding it would be the more important of the two. The other person was from within Kanto, so it was likely the alpha pack would bump into them eventually – at least, when they reconvened.

Once they’d received the two scraps of shredded clothes, they’d decided to focus their attention on the evidently hostile wolf; the one from Chubu. Though Amari and Torii generally kept well out of any Kanto versus Chubu disputes, if their fellow survivors of Hinohara asked for a favour, they could hardly turn it down. So they’d spent a solid hour packing manically, trying to fit as much as they could in the suitcase, with Tsubasa telling her fellow wolf things such as: _“Hina, we won’t need to take mattresses with us, we’ll already have those at the hotel. …Hina, we won’t need to take all of that chocolate with us, we can buy some bonafide Nagoyan chocolate when we’re there. …Okay, fine, I suppose one can never have **too** many socks.”_ After packing her laptop, her notebook and a few sets of pens, Torii had ushered her blonde friend out the door before locking up and heading on their merry way to Nagoya, taking a bullet train from Tokyo station.

Amari Hina was one of the very few Hinoharan wolves who had been blessed in not remembering it; she’d only been a couple of months old at the time, and Tsubasa, who’d only been six years old had heard the screaming baby and fled the village with her. Tsubasa had had werewolf relatives in the city of Annaka, where the two had grown up. Almost like a young child, Hina had waved goodbye to the receding cityscape as they pulled away on the Shinkansen. “Have you already found a nice place for us to say, Basa?” Hina grinned at the elder woman, who she knew found the nickname endearing, since it sounded very close to Baa-san, which often earned them strange looks from passers-by; surely this woman was too young to be a grandmother at her age, really?!

“Yes, the Route-Inn Oogaki,” Tsubasa responded with a soft smile. “It’s nowhere near the city centre, so we should be alright.” After that, Hina had kept up a relatively one-sided conversation whilst Tsubasa typed away, the clicking of her fingers seeming almost rhythmic and lulling Hina into a sleep. It was either that, or the travel sickness tablets she’d taken prior to the journey, since Hina had always been a long time sufferer of motion sickness.

“Hey, Basa, How long do you think Kunizuka’s gonna be in Osakikamijima for?” Hina looked at her friend, who was typing away, probably working on her latest novel, stifling a yawn. Though Hina would rarely admit it to the woman herself, she loved her stories. “It’s a really long way away… will she be back for Friday?”

“If Yayoi’s been sensible, which she most definitely has, then yes, she should be back for Friday,” Torii let the slumbering girl snuggle up next to her on their seats, already detecting that pretty soon her arm would be numb. “It’s likely she took a plane to Hiroshima.”

“I was worried that she’d have to drive all the way there,” Hina yawned again. “What’re you working on, Basa?”

“It’s the last chapter of my newest book.”

“Is it the last Dance Big book?”

“No, it’s not, but as soon as I’ve finished this, it’ll be straight onto finishing Dance Big.”

“Good. I like Dance Big. What’s it called?”

“Well, I haven’t come up with a name for it yet, but for now I’m calling it _The Love and Revenge of the Cactus Dance_. What do you think?”

“Goofy,” Hina replied truthfully. “I like it. How many more of the Dance Big books do you still have to write?”

Torii gave the girl a pinch on the nose. “Just one more book. Then we can buy a nice house in Tokyo.” Torii and Amari were more well-off then their alpha pack was; during her teenage years, Tsubasa had picked up writing, and by some miraculous stroke of fate, it had picked up, and soon enough she’d had more money than she knew what to do with it. As per Amari’s suggestion, she bought a huge house in Annaka (though she wanted to move to Tokyo straight away and away from the Chubu border) where they’d lived ever since. The rest, she’d saved best she could. Though it wasn’t as if the bill-paying resided solely on Tsubasa (not that she’d minded if it were), since Hina herself had a job, albeit a very low-paid one. After that, the blonde haired girl fell asleep on Tsubasa’s shoulder, snoring very gently, and unable to help herself, Torii ruffled her hair before continuing on with her tale.

When they pulled up to Nagoya station, Tsubasa had already switched her laptop off and packed it away before rousing the young woman from sleep. “We’re here?” she repeated Tsubasa’s words back to her. “I feel sick, Basa.”

“We’ll find a toilet when we get out,” Torii agreed, pulling Amari to her feet. She did look sort of pale, now she properly looked at her. They made their way awkwardly onto the platform, with Torii carrying the sole suitcase, her laptop bag, and a groaning Hina. “There’s one there. Can you get there by yourself?” Hina nodded and sloped off with a groan that could have been ‘yeah’ or ‘nah’, but Tusbasa waited patiently for her to emerge. When she did, she did look slightly better. “You should take some more of your tablets. We have a thirty minute car journey ahead of us.”

“Can’t we just be wolves and go there by ourselves?” Hina looked sad at the prospect of half an hour extra cooped up in a vehicle.

“Yes, and the hotel staff would be very happy with the two of us showing up naked,” Torii shook her head at the girl’s suggestion, before pinching her cheek. “Take your tablets, Hina. They should last this time.”

“You sound like a mom,” Amari said as she popped the pill out of the packet and taking it in with a slug of water. “Maybe I should call you Kasa instead.”

After that, they caught a bus leading to the area their hotel was situation, and by some miracle, Hina’s usually temperamental tablets worked, and she spent the while chatting to Tsubasa about the things they could see out the window. “If you want, if we have any spare time, we could go sight-seeing,” Torii suggested. “I was thinking that we sleep in the mornings, sight-see in the afternoon, and start tracking at night.”

“Sounds like a good plan!” Hina considered it for a moment. “Can we go the museums?”

“All of the ones in Nagoya? That’s rather a lot…”

“No, I meant the science museum! With the big silver ball!” she indicated it with her hands and blew up her cheeks so she looked rather like a hamster.

“Alright, alright,” Tori agreed. “But don’t forget we have to get back to Tokyo to watch Yayoi.”

“I wouldn’t miss that for anything!”

In their hotel room, they’d spent a while carefully hanging things away properly, as it was deemed ‘polite’, by Tsubasa after Hina protested, wanting to go and explore the city immediately. Afterwards, as a treat for being so ‘well-behaved’ (“ _I’m nineteen, Basa_!”) she took the cheerful girl to a cake shop.

“It should be a celebration of you working so hard!” Hina protested on the way there, even offering to pay, but Tsubasa was hearing none of it. The cake shop was Hina’s literal dream, with sweet things as far as they eye could see and everything quaintly decorated, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tsubasa writing things down quickly, as if committing the scene to memory. “Ooh, are you planning something for the Dance Big series?” Hina nearly squealed at the incline of Tsubasa’s head, earning herself a reprimanding look. “Okay, okay… where shall we sit?”

“Can we sit by the window? I like watching everyone go by,” Torii requested – Hina could hardly turn that down, now could she? A waitress almost immediately gave them menus, and Tsubasa politely ordered their two seasonal special hot chocolates, much to Hina’s delight. By the time the waitress came back around, they were ready to order their cakes, which had been an incredibly difficult process for Hina, but eventually she’d settled on possibly the most sugary cake there was.

“I’ll have a banana milk flan special, please!” Hina chirped at the waitress. Whatever a ‘banana milk flan’ was, it was a completely alien concept to the author seated opposite her.

“What the heck is that? It sounds like it’s eighty-percent sugar…” Torii asked before scribbling the name down in her jotter pad.

“It’ll put anyone who eats in seventh heaven; it’s ridiculously delicious. You’ll have to try some, Basa!”

“Why thank you,” she turned to the waitress. “Sorry. As for me, could I just have the maple syrup pancakes?” The waitress nodded and trotted off with their orders, and eventually bringing them over. Whilst they waited, Amari heard Torii humming a song they’d heard playing over the radio. Usually when she had to meet people with work, she was cool and collected; if her publisher’s ever saw Tsubasa like this, swinging her legs and humming along to a song that was no longer playing, they’d be flabbergasted. She was only her laid-back, almost motherly self around Hina, and it made the pigtailed girl feel kind of special.

“You look like you’re sort of enjoying the ‘holiday’ so far,” Hina commented.

“Hmm?” Slowly, Tsubasa raised her head and gazed at Hina’s face with eyes Hina had become acquainted to; this was the analytic face Torii sometimes had when she was thinking about certain things. “I’m worried about you, Hina. You haven’t been getting enough rest lately, have you? I was suspicious when you fell asleep on the train…”

Up until this point, Hina had thought she was doing a sterling job hiding her fatigue from her best-friend-slash-guardian, but very little escaped Tsubasa’s notice – keeping secrets from the older woman was nigh impossible. Awkwardly, she laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. Since it’s high season, the restaurant’s been making me work longer shifts and I haven’t really had a weekend for ages…” she yawned.

“Working until early in the morning, I can see the problem…” Torii mumbled, almost sadly.

“Well, you spend ages writing your book and going to all the events and meetings and so on. My job’s not so bad,” Hina giggled, trying to cheer up the glum woman. “Hey, we might be able to get some rest on this holiday, hmm?”

“Still, you’re younger than me. You should be getting solid sleep,” Tsubasa said, gulping down her hot chocolate, and Hina followed suit, with a tad more tact. Huh. Normally it was the other way around. As she tucked into their sweets, Torii seemed to mulling over the problem in her mind, before straightening up and suggesting it: “How about I track the scent tonight, and you catch up on your rest? I’ll only find the village, and I’ll come straight back to you. That way, for the real deal, we can get more done in time!”

“I… don’t know… what if something bad happens? We’re right in the middle of Chubu!” Hina protested.

“Nothing bad will happen, Hina,” Torii smiled. “There’s nothing dangerous about following somebody’s scent, you know – it’s only dangerous if you fight them. And I’m hardly what you’d call a pugnacious person.”

“Me neither,” Hina held up her hand as she tried to beam at her fellow Hinoharan wolf.

“And I’ll let you read _The Love and Revenge of the Cactus Dance_ whilst I’m gone…”

“Deal, deal!”

At eight o’clock, Tsubasa had given Hina her laptop before departing. It had started raining as Tsubasa left, and Hina was half-expecting her to come back as it really began to pour. But she didn’t; they did have a job to do after all. Curled up in a plethora of blankets and cushions, where it was relatively warm, she shivered; this Nagoyan wolf could be linked to the murders happening in Tokyo. No, that was silly, of course not; even Yayoi and Shion had told them both that there was no connection as of yet, but they were curious about what a Chubu wolf was doing in the depths of Kanto. If anybody was good at talking and negotiating, it was Tsubasa!

In spite of her inner feelings, she smiled at nobody in particular. Tsubasa wasn’t even going so far, just tracking the village. She’d left the bloodied cloth in the bathroom, hidden so cleaning staff couldn’t find it, and so she couldn’t lose it. Besides, Hina had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to read over a book before it was published! Snuggled up well with her favourite plushie, she began to read the novella, and despite the ridiculous name, it was an incredibly heart-wrenching book. She had to tell Basa what she thought when she got back. Just to think that she, Amari Hina, was living with such a magician of words!

Stifling a yawn, she remembered the promise she’d made to Torii – lights out at midnight. Complying, she closed the laptop down, leaving it on the bedside table before turning the lights out and making herself comfortable, wrapped up in duvet. Just as she was about to cross the precipice of sleep, her phone rang, disturbing her. Grumpily, she reached out for it and answered. “What?!”

“Oh, sorry, Hina. I thought you would still be awake,” Torii’s voice was soft. “Well, I traced the Nagoyan wolf’s village, a place called Sakahogi, but… something’s wrong. I heard someone crying before; it sounded like a little girl, so I need to find her and make sure she’s alright.”

“That’s just like you, ‘Kasa,” Hina muttered, settling into her pillows once again.

“That isn’t the only thing that’s wrong with this place. There’s nobody here. It’s like a ghost village. Just like…”

“Hinohara,” Amari breathed; she couldn’t remember just what happened, but the story Torii had decided it was acceptable to tell her just four years ago, and it made her shiver. Nearly 3000 members of the wolf society had lived there, and in the whole of the Kanto region, there were only 300, and a few stragglers, but no more than twenty or thirty. “Be careful, Tsubasa.”

“I will be. If nothing else, I have to find that crying girl. I’ll be back later than I thought, so don’t wait up for me, alright? I’ll be back by midmorning.”

“You mean it?”

“We have to go and visit the Science Museum tomorrow, don’t we?” Tsubasa’s tone was light. “And I’ll buy you some candyfloss to make up for it. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Hina muttered sleepily.

“Goodnight, Hina. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, Tsubasa.”

 

The next morning, Tsubasa didn’t show, and it was still raining. “She must be pretty cold by now…” Hina sniffled. “She said she’d be back…” A few hours later, Hina just got angry; she didn’t want to entertain the possibility that anything bad could have happened in that ghost village. Tsubasa had said she was coming back, and not once, in all the time the two girls had known each other, had Torii gone back on her word.

She’d already tried ringing stupid Torii all day, but it went to voicemail each and every time. By the time twenty-four hours since Tsubasa’s departure, Hina was getting worried. So, the natural course was to go and find her strangely vacant friend herself, if she wasn’t going to come back. “I’m going to fix this stupid situation the same way I fix my TV – smacking it at a 45 degree angle!” she nodded firmly to herself. What would be the quickest way to that village, Sakahogi? For someone who couldn’t drive like herself, so it would have to be the trains, with constant switching over. It was fine. Everything would work out.

Tsubasa might be trapped in that village, and couldn’t get hold of her. And hadn’t they always agreed that they’d always be friends? That their friendship would never die? As cheesy as it sounded, to Hina, they were a mantra that more often than not, kept her grounded in times of panic. If Tsubasa believed in those words, then that was good enough reason for her! The internet told her that the trip there would be one and a half hours. Ugh… that was too long to be spending in a high-speed metal contraption! She would get sick for sure!

 _Your tablets, Hina_. The gentle voice of Torii’s seemed to enter her mind, prodding her to take in the small pills. “Thanks, Tsubasa…” she whispered, but found herself looking around; what if someone had seen her talking to nothing but thin air? She was being stupid. “I’m coming, Basa!”

***

An hour and a half later, Amari Hina stood at the entrance to Sakahogi, feeling relatively queasy after being in four different trains in such a short period of time, but the walk, coupled with her determination to find Basa – who was obviously in trouble, at this point – and the pills had lessened the nausea in her chest.

As she approached the village, she began to pick up three scents; the Nagoyan wolf that they’d been tracking, some other wolf she’d never smelt before… and Torii! Was she alright? In her sudden moment of joy, Amari nearly launched herself forward into the village to search for her missing friend; at this point, it was a definite foul play was at work here. Nobody was here; maybe it was just like Hinohara, but worse. There weren’t any survivors. So she should definitely be careful.

Creeping forward, she tried to retrace Tsubasa’s steps. Where could she have gone? From smell alone, Hina figured out that her life-long compatriot had circled around for a few times, perhaps trying to see if anybody in the village was there… just to find the whole place empty. Though she didn’t exactly remember the ‘great Hinoharan tragedy’, a fading memory flashed through her mind as she stared upon the village; she didn’t want these people to die. But what if she was already too late for that..? No, no! There had to be somebody here! Didn’t Tsubasa say she heard a girl crying?

Of course, what little hope Amari had held was soon dashed when she found Tsubasa’s phone lying hidden in some tree branches, and with some joy, she saw that it was still on. Since there was nothing Amari or Tsubasa hid from each other, the phone had no passcode lock on it. It was also running low, so Hina had to limit her usage. Maybe… she should call someone, back home in Kanto, so at least somebody knew she was here. Just in case. Nothing bad would happen, since Hina was a very capable, but as Torii often said ‘ _better safe than sorry_!’

Fumbling with the phone in cold fingers, she managed to find Shion in the contact list, before calling. Four rings, and the other blonde had picked up. “Ara, Tsubasa~? What’s up?”

“It-It’s Hina, Amari Hina,” Hina clumsily introduced herself.

“Oh, Hina!” Shion sounded ecstatic. _Well, at least she was living it cushy in Tokyo_ , Hina thought bitterly, before mentally scolding herself. _Shion is a nurse, she has a very demanding job, so this is why me and Tsubasa had to do this!_

“Um… we found where the wolf came from, but…” she shivered, in spite of herself. “Well, it was Tsubasa. She went out all by herself, and she never came back.”

“What?”

“No, no, it’s fine. She’s just stuck here is all, I think,” Hina tried to comfort the panic in Shion’s voice, the way Tsubasa would do with her. “It’s a little village north of Nagoya. Sakahogi.”

“Sakahogi? I haven’t heard of that before.” Through the phone she heard fingers tapping on a keyboard with unprecedented speed. “Okay, right. Got it. Hina, you should head back to Nagoya. It’s probably not sa—“

“No, I have to find Tsubasa!” Hina cut of the older woman. “Oh, I’m sorry! It’s just… I can’t come home without her. I can smell her, she’s around here somewhere...” _Or at least, her body is. No, don’t think such things, Hina! Nobody’s here, so nothing bad could have happened. Tsubasa just lost her phone and couldn’t tell me if she’d changed her plans_. “I’ll… keep you updated, Karanomori.”

“Be… be safe, Hina,” Shion sounded concerned, a little like Torii sometimes.

“Oh, Karanomori, another thing!” Hina said before the nurse hung up.

“Hmm?”

“Nobody’s here. It’s kind of like… _Hinohara_. But there’s no… no signs that anything bad’s happened here. It’s just… everyone’s… gone. But I can smell two other wolves other than Tsubasa here.”

“Watch out for them. Where did you say it was? I’ll have to report it to the alpha.”

“Sakahogi,” Hina reaffirmed. “I have to go! Time is precious!”

“Call back when you can,” Shion said, her voice renewed with the same false hope Hina had been before coming in Sakahogi; but it was Hina, not Shion, who was stood on the precipice of the village.

“Okay!” Hina ended the call, and shoved the phone hastily in her pocket. From here on it, it would be easier to sneak around in human form, and only use wolf form if it was life-or-death. So it was unlikely she’d ever have to use it.

Suddenly, loud sniffles distracted her from her self-encouragement, and she scanned into the village. A girl, maybe around Hina’s age, was traipsing through the village, tears in her eyes, spilling over. Was this the crying girl? Well, if Tsubasa thought it good enough to venture in for this lost soul’s sake, then maybe it could be a good reason for Hina to enter the dragon’s lair. “Excuse me!” she called over, waving as she burst out from the tree line. “Do you live here?! Excuse me!” The girl, who was donned in a typical sailor fuku, didn’t appear to have heard her, and continued her way into the depths of the village, sobbing away, her cries reverberating off the buildings. That was one thing that Hina didn’t do; for someone so cheerful, people expected her to be a crybaby, but it took quite a lot to make her cry. Even so, she couldn’t neglect this girl, whose black hair vanished around another corner. “Excuse me! Miss? Hey! Do you live here? What happened?!”

Then, the impossible happened as she tried, again and again, to reach out to that teary-eyed girl. Just as she pursued her down yet another rural street, the ground… simply split open and swallowed her whole, before Hina had a chance to even realise what was happening. The darker parts of Hina’s mind, which very few had ever witnessed, told her that it was similar to being dragged straight into hell. Her vision went white and her conscious mind faded to an ugly black.

***

She felt dust and sand filling her mouth and she sprang to her feet, gagging and choking. Feeling very much like she had entered a cave, she found herself in a cold, dark room, the dampness and clamminess almost sticking to her skin like a disgusting slime. Wracked with hesitation and the slightest inkling of fear, Hina tried raising her voice, but barely had one she could raise. In desperation, she jerked her head back and forth looking for Tsubasa, but even when she called out for her friend, there was no response. Torii… really wasn’t here. However, her scent was lingering here still, and gave Hina a ray of hope. As glad as she was to be on the same track as Torii again, she felt sad that her best friend had to go through this as well. So that was her top priority – finding Tsubasa! The crying girl she’d seen could wait!

Still, she allowed herself a moment of fear, and whimpered to the impenetrable blackness. Then, she told herself to be strong and proceed onwards. Feeling her way out, she miraculously found a door, seemingly embedded into the wall; a quick examination told her it had only recently been opened. By Tsubasa?! Even if it had been opened twenty-four hours prior, it was still a little stiff, and required a bit more effort than what was anticipated. Soon, she was free and found herself in what seemed to be a long, underground corridor, lit by old lamps, the kind you’d see in old war movies. What was this place? Was it a remainder of the Great War the humans had? If she had to guess, it looked a little like a bomb shelter.

Regardless of what it was, Torii was probably stuck down here! Since the corridor ran in two directions, she decided to head south before heading north. Perhaps there would be an exit of some kind, so she could return above ground. Only walking a little ways ended that line of conduct; the entire way was blocked off by a landslide of randomly shaped rocks… but it didn’t seem very natural to Hina. Somebody wanted her to head north, and for the time being, she couldn’t afford to sit around waiting for rescue – so north it was. She’d just reached an intersection in the corridors, debating on where to turn next, when she first heard it. A melodic voice, belonging to a man, but it sounded more like that of an angel. An angel of death.

“ _Circle you, circle you,_

 _Stay with us and play forever_.”

So she wasn’t here alone then… she shuddered. “Am I hearing things? That was someone’s voice, I know I’m not hearing things…”

Then it sounded out again, only closer, louder. Was somebody walking towards her? Could they see her? Was it Tsubasa? Had she been fleeing from that twistedly innocent lullaby?

“Circle you, circle you,

Close the door and leave us never.”

It wasn’t up for debate – there were two directions she could go in – either continue north, or head to the west. On impulse, she fled to the west, and true enough, the words died down. Only things could never be that simple. When the lights flickered above her head, she allowed herself a small scream, believing she could see something hiding in the shadows ahead. No matter how hard she tried, there would be no convincing herself that this was the hallucination of a terrified mind. “Is… someone there?” she whispered into the darkness. What if it was that crying girl? What if it was Tsubasa? The lights continued flickering on and off, but nothing emerged. Which could be taken as a good sign. As she continued, legs shaking, she was sure she could hear indistinct mutterings, which only grew louder as she continued.

_“Why?! Why?!”_

_“Save me…”_

_“Help me, please…”_

_“Stop it! Stop it! Stop… it…”_

_“It huuuurts!”_

The last voice made Amari Hina sick to her bones; it belonged to a child, not even ten years old. She wanted to call out to them, but her own fear prevented it, and instead, she sprinted back the way she’d came. Again, someone was forcing her north. Eventually, that original northern path curved around again, and despite knowing that it would lead to a dead end in all likelihood, she followed it: maybe Tsubasa was hiding somewhere safe. And then, that haunting melody began again.

“ _Circle you, circle you,_

 _Can you feel time creeping closer_?”

“No more!” Hina’s scream of protest was out of her mouth before she could stop it. “Oh, God, where am I? What the hell is this place?” She shook herself, telling herself and ran as fast as she could down that corridor, losing all self-control. “Tsubasa! Tsubasa! Where are you?! Oh, God where are you?! Tsubasaaaa!” In her blind panic, she found herself running straight into a door, with no idea on how she got there. But that voice seemed to be following her, even so.

“ _Circle you, circle you,_

 _I’m so sorry, your turn’s over…_ ”

In another act of stupid impulse, she turned the handle down and pushed against it with more difficulty than she’d expected, but in some miracle, it opened, and as she fell in the room, she slammed it shut again, cutting the voice off mid-song. Could the singer… be screwing with her? Was he watching her? If he was an angel of death, then did that mean… he was coming for her? But what business did an angel of death have in a village where there wasn’t a soul in sight…?

Or was the lack of people here to do with the angel of death stalking this equally abandoned bomb shelter…?

The room here was impossibly dark, all engulfing. Even with werewolf vision, she had very little indication of its size; the sole thing she had was the echoing drips of water bouncing off the surfaces of the walls. Judging from that alone, the room wasn’t too big.

The room also stunk, worse than anything Amari had ever had to breathe in before. With a small, ironic smile, she entertained the possibility that Tsubasa had come in here, smelt it and passed out from the stench. Through the nearly-overpowering metallic stench in the room, which suggested machinery of some kind, she could smell faint traces of Tsubasa. So she had no option to head further in; she usually kept a cool head, as she’d constantly proven to Hina, but there was always the possibility that she’d bolted in here too in panic and fright, as Hina had so stupidly done. “Basa…?” she called out testily, not wanting to venture too far in fears of bumping into something, gross or not. Still, there was no answer. So unless the lights in here came on, Hina was reduced to crawling on her hands and knees. Just what was that smell? It was disgusting, like something was rotting in there.

Hina did not necessarily want to carry on that train of thought, so she took a shuffle forward, and knocking something over. The loud noise it made as it toppled made her cringe, and the contents spilled over her hands. “Ew…!” she whined at the slimy texture. “What even is that?” By doing so, she’d made the metallic tang in the air much worse to the point she was beginning to gag slightly, finding it difficult to breathe. Was it… blood? Did she just… spill blood all over her hands? No, it was impossible! The rest of the shelter had been dirty, sure, but not blood-stained.

Suddenly, from right outside the door, the song started up again.

“ _Cirlce you, circle you,_

 _You can’t run so stay awhile_!”

Catching her by surprise, the lights flickered back on, and she had to clap her now red hands to her mouth to stop the unbidden exclamation of surprise escaping. The disgusting sensation of blood smearing on her skin barely registered as she tried to shuffle over to the wall so she could stand up.

Instantly, the smell that she’d registered became perfectly clear to her. A majority of the floor, the walls, the ceiling… was absolutely drenched in blood and humans viscera. How many gallons of blood… had been carelessly splattered here, like some kind of fucked up painting? She felt herself retching, but fought to tamp it down. But that wasn’t even the worst part. No, what was the worst part were the clear glass vats of equally clear liquid pressed against the wall, baring its contents to all to see. And it would take an idiot to not recognize what floated in those tubes.

Okami. And the voices she’d heard… must have come from them… from beyond the grave… But what the hell were they doing here? And why? Who would want to preserve the bodies of the Okamis? Why? What end did it achieve?!

The vats were what finally did it for Amari Hina and she fell on all fours and brought up what was left of the little she’d eaten.

_The phone! The phone to contact Shion! Right!_

Even though it was low on charge and service, she hoped that the single solitary bar of reception would be enough. Shakily, she took as many pictures of the room as she could, and sent them to Shion, but even so, the little bar indicating it was sent never reached the other side of the screen. “No… no… please…” she whispered to it, tears pooling. Was… Tsubasa in here? Was some of this blood hers?

 **No, no, it couldn’t be**!

“ _Circle you, circle you,_

 _They won’t hear you screaming for miles_.”

The angel of death was right in the room with her, and Hina barely had chance to spin around and face him before the weapon connected with her temple, and the phone spun out of her hand as she fell like a broken puppet to the floor. As it finished its final turn under the vats, that send bar hit the side of the screen, before the phone itself died. It was the final thing that gave Amari Hina a tiny bit of hope, and managed a very fragile smile, before closing her eyes.

_Stupid Tsubasa… never bought me that candyfloss. Well, it’s okay, even if this is an angel of death. I’m not scared at all. Because Tsubasa’s coming to save me. Just like she always does, Tsubasa’s going to save me._

“Do you understand now, pathetic Kanto wolf?” the angel of death asked the unconscious blonde. “Why you don’t stand a chance against Chubu?” he pulled her up by her hair, having little regard for her as he pulled her out the room. “I’ll tell you why, insignificant Kanto wolf. The might of other Okamis, when taken away, weakens their region. But for us, when I take it, it makes me much stronger. And you’re all so, so pathetically weak, useless Kanto wolf. Especially that Kougami Shinya you all revere.”

He smiled to nobody but his own thoughts.

“If anything, he’s the weakest of all you pathetic, insignificant, useless wolves.”


	7. Prophecies Which Prevent the Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginoza has three very strange conversations...

The next morning, after telling Ginoza the harrowing tale of Hinohara, Kougami was nowhere to be seen, but a somewhat hurried voicemail on his phone told Ginoza that he’d received an incredibly urgent call from Shion, and wouldn’t be home until much later this evening. At the end of the voicemail, he’d said: “And Gino? Please don’t go chasing this case on your own. I don’t want to lose you too.”

Then it had abruptly ended.

He supposed that meant he could finally read the letter Red had shoved into his hands, which his fingers had been itching to open since he’d first been given it. After years and years, he’d heard something from her; perhaps he should be angry at her, but he couldn’t summon it – only joy. _“Read it by yourself; don’t show Kougami.”_ Well, Kougami had gone out on wolf errands, and Ginoza could only presume he’d rung Aoyangi from the message that was also on his phone, wishing him a speedy recovery.

Carefully sitting in bed, resting against the pillows, Ginoza pulled the drawer open, and out of habit, blurted out, “Good morning, mom,” before feeling ridiculous. What if Red was watching him?

_Wait, why the hell would Red be watching him?!_

He shook his head, rolling his eyes at his own folly, and got down to the task at hand. As if it was a precious artefact, and not paper, he prized it open and handled it with the utmost care. To be quite honest, he was amazed when nothing happened when the flap lifted up, half-expecting some mystical glow or something cheesy that happened in movies. Gently, he tugged the folded letter out the envelope, and drew in a shaky breath, as if he was witnessing some kind of miracle. And then he unfolded it, and read the cursive writing that was still nearly-impossible to read as it was all those years ago, and in spite of himself, he let out what could barely be considered a laugh.

**Nobuchika.**

**How have you been? Oh, I guess I’m not allowed to ask that sort of thing, and I fully expect you to be angry with me. It’s understandable. Truly, I’m sorry, Nobuchika. I would have come and got you, and not a day went by when I didn’t think of seeing you again. If anything, you were the only thing keeping me going all of these years. Again, I can’t exactly say that sort of thing. I abandoned you, after all, Nobuchika. Believe me when I say that the place where I left you gave you a better childhood then I could offer you. I’m sorry, Nobuchika, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. And… believe me, when I say, that things became too dangerous and too scary for a child to ever endure. You couldn’t have lead the good, solid life a child should have like that. But I can hardly make decisions for you now, can I?**

**I also heard off reliable resources – I think you’ve met her already! – that you’re a police detective now. I wish I’d been there to see you become so smart, but I’m so proud of you. You’re a lot braver than me – I don’t think I could ever handle that! I also heard that you have a boyfriend now… why didn’t you tell me, Nobuchika, hmm? I’m joking, of course! But as long as he treats you well, then I have no problem with it.**

**But… as an alpha, he’s going to have a lot of people targeting him, you know. Just be careful, Nobuchika, please. If you were hurt, especially for something as silly as wolves fighting among themselves, I don’t think I could possibly live with myself. They may target you too, but it’s alright. I am sure Kougami will look after you. He looks after everyone from Hinohara, so it’s only natural that he will. Always remember, your old mom’s always looking out for you too.**

**And… one final thing, Nobuchika, if you’re even reading this far at all. I don’t know. I just want to let you know that…**

**I still love my little son as much as I did the day we parted.**

**Lots of love,**

**Mom.**

Ginoza didn’t know whether reading the letter had made him feel better, or worse, and he didn’t know whether the solitary tear that slipped out of his eye was out of joy or sorrow. Perhaps both, maybe not. He jerked the letter out of the way so he wouldn’t stain it with his pathetic tears, and for the first time since he was a child, he allowed himself to cry. And just like he did in childhood whenever he was crying about something silly and unimportant, he clutched that locket to himself like it was a lifeline. Like it was the hand of a parent he never got to hold.

But through the sadness came the confusion. First of all, how did his mother, his **_human_** mother, know about the existence of werewolves? Ginoza was always under the impression it was a closely guarded secret, but apparently not. Maybe the Kanto wolves really were as liberal as Kougami made out. But what really threw him off was when she said Kougami would protect everyone from Hinohara, and apparently Ginoza fell under that umbrella. “Mom… what’s going on?” he muttered the photograph, but no matter what he asked her, his mother would never look up at him. “Mom… everything’s got really messed up and weird. What’s going on? Why couldn’t you come and get me? Was it something to do with Hinohara?” He clutched the locket so hard in his hand it began digging into the skin that was there, and the pain seemed to ground him slightly, clear the mist in his mind. “Whenever I find some answers, even more questions pop up.”

As if right on cue, the sharp ringing of the house phone distracted him, and he ran to pick it up in time, fumbling with it for a few minutes. “Ginoza speaking.”

“Good morning, Ginoza,” Red’s voice chirped from the earpiece. “I’ve cleaned your coat for you, and patched it up. Well, I had some help since I’m not a great seamstress, but, um… yeah!”

“You seem cheerful,” he commented. “How do you know this number?”

“Easy. You just search ‘Ginoza Nobuchika’ in the phonebook and type in the number next to your name.” It was weird, but he could hear the mocking smile in her voice. “Anyway, did Kougami tell you about anything last night?”

“Yeah, he told me what Okami were, and what happened at Hinohara,” he sighed. “You were there, too?”

“Yup.” He shouldn’t drag up old memories. “I’m glad you followed my advice. Not a lot of people do that, for some reason, even if it works.”

“Probably because you seem younger than you are,” he supplied.

“I can’t help having a babyface!” she snapped, but he could tell that she wasn’t angry with him, and it was mild teasing among friends. This kind of banter seemed familiar to him, but it must have been from his childhood or his teenage years; it was weird, he couldn’t remember a whole lot, but it wasn’t as though it was missing, per se. “Well, since we’re on the subject of Hinohara, are you free today?”

“Red, what are you planning?” he asked her flatly.

“Nothing in particular, really,” she laughed, somewhat nervously. “Just… how do you feel like doing a road trip with me today?”

“A roadtrip. To Hinohara?”

“You got it!”

“Why?” he asked. “Why not Kougami, or, oh, I don’t know, someone who was involved and wants to be involved?”

“Don’t spew this ‘you don’t want to be involved’ crap,” her voice turned serious, all joking gone. “If you didn’t want to be involved, you wouldn’t have gone to Shibuya to chase your premonitions, nor would you have gone straight to Tozai Underpass to deal with it. Or was that just on a whim? And when you asked Kougami about Hinohara, and he told you, were you thinking ‘who? Who would have done this? Why?’ Don’t tell me you’re not even a little bit curious.”

“I am curious, but if it’s going to kill me, I don’t want to get involved!” he snapped in anger. “Don’t psychoanalyse me! Maybe I just really don’t want to die!”

“Then Tozai Underpass. You went knowing there was a possibility you’d be killed, didn’t you? But you still went because you’re looking for answers,” Red persisted. Ginoza said nothing. “So are you coming to Hinohara or what? You won’t find any answers sat chewing on your nails until Kougami comes home.”

“Kougami said he didn’t want me chasing this alone!”

“Oh, am I not a person now?” Red sounded irritated, but was fighting to keep her cool. “You won’t be alone, so you can tell your jerkass boyfriend to sit his ass down.”

“I… don’t know, Red,” Ginoza admitted. “I’ve been lying a lot to him lately. And he’s forgiven me. Hell, he wasn’t angry at me at all, which was better than I deserved. I can’t do that again, Red. That’s just selfish.”

“Are you coming to Hinohara, Ginoza?” she asked simply, and they both let the silent endure for longer than what could be deemed awkward. However, Ginoza didn’t let this bother him; he was too busy weighing up the pros and cons. Red would be with him, so if anything went wrong, she could protect him since she’d done so in the past; however, she could also be an enemy at this point, but he doubted that – she knew his mother, after all. Perhaps he could use what little information he’d been given to figure out just what was going on with Hinohara, the wolves, and the murders. And he could figure out what his mother meant when she’d said that _Kougami protects everyone from Hinohara_.

“Yes,” he answered just as simply after several moments.

Through the phone, the sigh of relief was obvious. “Thank you, Ginoza. I’ll come and pick you up at… eleven, shall we say? I can’t exactly come up to the house, so I’ll be waiting a block away. You know, the café with those cute little ice cream things.”

“Why’s that?”

“You have an alpha boyfriend who is utterly convinced I’m trying to seduce you.”

“If you were, I haven’t noticed.”

“I’m not, but that was my point exactly,” she laughed, and despite of the fact that it was a jab aimed at him, there was very little meanness behind it. If anything, it felt like he was talking to an old friend. “I have a present for you, as well, but it’s a surprise. Also, you and I have a lot to talk about, but I’d rather not do it over the phone, you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, no, that’s fine,” Ginoza stuttered slightly. “I’ll see you later then, Red.”

“Yup, see you later, Ginoza!” With that, the call ended.

After getting showered and dressed and redoing his bandages (the wounds had since healed up in the night, but they were still stiff and sore and prone to reopening), he was beginning to get second thoughts. Maybe he should leave a note for Shinya. Maybe not. He should hopefully be back before Kougami returned, in any case. Hinohara village lay only thirty minutes away from Tokyo, maybe even less if he stepped on it.

Well, he could find a compromise. He could leave Shinya a note, and tell a little white lie.

**Shinya, I should hopefully be back soon, but if you get here before me, don’t panic. I’ve gone out with Red to some café. She’s returning my jacket and buying me a drink to apologise.**

Perfect.

With some irritation, he only began to realise that the rain had begun to pour down, and he was sans a coat. Though he’d known that the weather would be miserable today, he hadn’t expected visibility to be almost non-existent. Thinking it bad luck if he slipped and fell or caught a cold or something along those lines, he borrowed Shinya’s boots to wear, as well as his fluffy parka – hopefully Shinya wouldn’t mind. Even so, Ginoza thought it polite to tell his partner about him ‘borrowing’ his clothes and quickly scribbled two more lines.

**Since the weather’s terrible, and I don’t have a coat (or sensible shoes) I’ve borrowed some of yours. Hope you don’t mind.**

After that, he strode out the house with nothing but his phone, wallet and keys. Once he’d locked up, he began to sprint down the garden path to reach Red’s car quicker, or at least some form of shelter; there should be some near the ice-cream parlour, surely.

When he opened the garden gate, he nearly tripped over a white-haired old man who was sprawled on the sidewalk, face-down, utterly soaked to the bone and apparently unconscious. Immediately, he rushed over to check for anything. “Hello? Are you alright?!” The old man only groaned in response. “Stay with me! Come on… tell me what happened.” This earned him several pained wheezes and grunts. Fearing a hit-and-run, Ginoza checked over the old man’s body, but saw no signs of any truly serious injury. “It doesn’t seem like a car accident, at the very least…” he whispered to himself.

Amidst pants and wheezes and laboured breaths, the old man tried to croak something. “Young…man…”

“Yes?” Ginoza asked, worried that speaking could cause the man any more grief.

“You must not go out today!” the old man coughed. Was he worried that something bad would happen to Ginoza, as well?

“It’s alright, my friend and I are being very safe and going in her car,” Ginoza tried to soothe the old man’s apparent consternation.

“You absolutely… must not go!” the old man urged hoarsely, lifting himself up slightly with shaking hands, before collapsing again. From his tone of voice, he was incredibly desperate.

“But I have to,” Ginoza replied, not really understanding. “I’m doing something important with my friend, and I can’t cancel.”

“No, just stay home! Do not go!”

“I really do have to go,” Ginoza said simply, not wanting to particularly explain why to this random, and ostensibly insane, stranger. At his reply, the old man took in a sharp inhale that could be considered a gasp.

“Will you…?”

“Will I…?”

“Will you go… no matter what?” the old man questioned him.

"Yes, I will." 

“In that case… please…” he sounded close to tears. Not knowing quite what to say or do in this bizarre situation, Ginoza simply nodded apprehensively as the man began digging around frantically in his pockets to finally produce what seemed to be a very crumpled scrap of paper. Whilst he did so, the old man’s breathing became dangerously ragged, so naturally Ginoza weighed up what to do in order to help him. Really, he should have gone around to a neighbour’s house to ask for assistance. But there was something about this stranger that seemed to glue him to the spot, only able to not along to whatever he was saying. “You must take this.”

“What is it?” Ginoza asked without realising it; wasn’t the old man strained enough? Well, it wasn’t like old people were his area of expertise.

“A charm.”

“A… charm?” Ginoza repeated, feeling kind of stupid. With that, the old man reached up and forcefully clung to Ginoza’s wrist, pressing the paper into his palm. Tilting his head in confusion, Ginoza unfolded the scrap of paper and looked carefully at it. At first, he thought he’d just been handed a piece of trash this old man seemed to think was precious… but when he unfolded it fully, it was actually a paper doll in the shape of a human being. And there was a name, written in big bold typography on the doll’s torso.

**G I N O Z A N O B U C H I K A.**

“Why is… my name on it?”

“So it can protect you,” the man croaked. “If you don’t write the name of the person you want to protect, then it won’t work.” Ginoza had never been a big believer in the supernatural; of course, werewolves had changed that, but the whole ‘spirit charm’ thing had never really sat well with him. Crazy – that’s what it was, this entire situation – crazy. But there was one thing Ginoza knew for sure; this old man, this evidently tired and beaten old man, had purposefully sought him out just to give him this. As far as he was aware, the two of them had never met, but for some reason, this man had known both his name and his address.

“I’m sorry. I know you came a long way to give me this to me, but I… don’t want it.” Maybe he could forget this strange meeting ever happened.

“You don’t… want it?” the old man echoed, sounding even more tired than he had before. As Ginoza extended his arm to return the man’s ‘present’, he could sense that his entire demeanour had changed drastically. Unsteadily, he raised himself to his feet, and looked at Ginoza directly, head on. His dishevelled hair covered the majority of his face so Ginoza couldn’t see exactly. “Why not?!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I-“

“I’ve nearly killed myself bringing this to you! Why will nobody listen to me?!” At the pure, unrelenting fury in his voice, Ginoza took a step back. “You must not enter Hinohara Village without this charm!”

“Hinohara?” How the hell had the old man known that?!

“Yes! You must not enter!” the man lunged at Ginoza. “Don’t go!”

“Please, sir, calm down!” Ginoza tried to soothe the disgruntled elderly man.

“Listen! You must not go to Hinohara!” With that, the old man fell to the asphalt again. “Get rid of that charm and you won’t live until summer, little boy!”

“Sir! Sir!” Ginoza called out, but it was no use. “I’m going to go and get help sir!”

“The charm… the charm…” the old man was muttering to himself. With an exasperated sigh, he stuffed it into his pocket.

“It’s in my pocket! It’s in my pocket!” he yelled. “Please, don’t strain yourself – I’ll go and fetch someone now!”

With that, he lithely hopped out of the way of the old man and towards his neighbour’s house, knocking on the door urgently. “Oh, Ginoza, is it?” his neighbour exclaimed when she finally opened the door.

“I’m really sorry to bother you,” he began urgently. “But I have really urgent business to attend to – I work for the police, you see – and there’s a man who’s really unwell outside. Could you help him?”

“Of course,” the woman pulled on a jacket which lay crumpled on the floor (annoying Ginoza) and followed him quickly to where the man was sprawled once more. “Oh, dear – what’s happened here then?” she fussed around with the old man. “Don’t worry, Ginoza, dear. I’ll handle this; you must be incredibly busy with everything that’s going on. I suppose you’re heading out to deal with last night’s murder?”

“Yes,” Ginoza lied with the greatest of ease, despite not wanting to make it a habit.

“Utterly decimated in Shin-Etsu. What a terrible fate… are you getting any closer with that?”

“It’s classified information,” he shrugged his shoulders sadly. _You should have gone into acting,_ he told himself, followed immediately by: _that’s possibly the stupidest thing you’ve ever thought. And that’s saying something._

“Of course, of course,” his neighbour began to turn the old man over. “Well, I’d hate to keep you from your investigation.”

“Thank you again,” he called again as he sprinted away. Checking his watch affirmed his worst fear; he was late. And if there was one thing he hated more than clothes being carelessly discarded on the floor, it was being late to events.

Red, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind.

“Sorry I’m late – there was some old guy passed out in my yard,” he explained briefly.

“And you helped him out?”

“Of course.”

“Well, aren’t you a good boy scout?” She grinned at his grumpy expression, before moving the conversation along as they pulled out of the parking spot. “It’s kind of a horrible day… I’m hoping it clears up by the time we get to Hinohara,” she greeted him with that same easy smile as she shoved his folded coat onto his lap, awkwardly. He couldn’t help himself, but he checked the patches sewn on the sleeve. “Does it meet the standards of the esteemed Ginoza Nobuchika?”

“Of course it does!” he replied hurriedly, almost ashamedly, not meaning to be so rude.

“Calm down, I’m joking,” she smiled again, and even though he’d never admit it, it was kind of infectious.

“R-right,” he nodded, and placed the coat on the floor of the car. Had she cleaned up in here? He was sure he must have spilt some blood on her upholstery at some point the other night… well, it was nice she made an effort. “You said you had a present for me?”

“That I did, but I don’t want to give it to you when I’m driving!” she laughed. “Patience, young grasshopper.” At her strange turn of phrase, he allowed himself a small smile. “Though I have some questions for you.”

“Fire away,” he waved his hand as they turned onto the highway, and he noticed with some distaste that the traffic was especially heavy. Naturally, since few people actually wanted to walk in this weather.

“Ginoza, do you remember anything about your mother at all?”

Whatever question he’d been expecting her to ask, it certainly wasn’t that. “I have one memory of her, and it’s not even a lot. I know what her face looks like because of this,” he indicated to the golden chain wrapped around his neck, and Red nodded as though she understood. “But I can just about remember her voice.”

“What’s the memory, if I can ask?” he knew Red wasn’t prying, and he could always turn her down.

“I can’t remember anything leading up to it, so don’t ask me too much, but…” he stared at the locket, which was now closed. “I was in some room or something like that, and it was cold. I think it was snowing outside, but I can’t be too sure. There weren’t a whole lot of windows. There wasn’t a whole lot of anything. I think there was a single window at most.”

“Like a cell?”

“I guess it could be likened to a cell, but what would a nine-year-old boy be doing in a cell?” he looked at the driver, whose eyes were focused slowly on the road, and shrugged. “Anyway, I digress. She called out for me and I saw the side of her face in that tiny window, but since I myself was quite short at the time, I couldn’t reach. So I built up this platform out of boxes as quickly as I could so I could see her better. That was then she gave me this. And then she told me that it was proof that we were family.” He clutched it then, wrapping his fingers around it. “And said that as long as I wore it, if I was ever in any trouble at all, she’d come running to rescue me right away.” Red said nothing. “I haven’t had any trouble since.” With that, he returned his locket to underneath his shirt’s material and rested his hand on his lap.

At that, she smiled slightly, thinking Ginoza couldn’t see. As the scenery outside the window shifted from pastoral to urban, she began to speak again. “Have your visions been happening again?”

“Yeah, and last night’s scared me slightly,” Ginoza, seeking comfort, pulled Kougami’s parka closer to his face. “I saw these two women.”

“Are they dead now?”

“Maybe. I… don’t know,” he admitted truthfully. “I think they were doing a favour for Kougami, and one of them went missing. And then the other one went to find her and found herself in this place. And I know there was a name to where it was but I just… can’t remember.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault. Can you describe the place to me?”

“Yeah. The woman who I seemed to be following… that sounds weird, but you know what I mean – thought it was like a World War bomb shelter. It seemed to be an impressive one, too – it had rooms and corridors and the like.”

“Well, people thought the end of the world were coming,” Red sighed. “Even in the sticks, the fear was pretty bad.”

“She saw some pretty messed up things in there. Someone was singing and even though I was asleep, I felt like it was in the room with me. But it couldn’t have been, because Kou was there with me.” With a sigh, he continued. “In the final destination she came to, she ended up throwing up, it was that grim. And… we both saw something… really messed up in there. Someone was preserving bodies of Okamis. Is that a thing that’s done, or does that sound like a completely foreign thing to you?”

“That is… kind of gross,” Red told him. “More than gross. What happened then? Did you see anything else?”

“She got knocked out, but I heard her attacker speaking. But he wasn’t speaking to her. He knows I’m there.” Ginoza shuddered. “I think he knows exactly who I am.”

“What did he say to you? It doesn’t have to be verbatim, but anything in this messed up business helps.”

“Essentially, he says he’s taking away the power of the Okamis to make himself stronger and weaken everyone else. Is there some kind of werewolf political battle going on?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I am a little out of the loop but I think I’d hear about something that big.” Red mused as the scenes shifted from open field to enclosed mountains. “We’re about ten minutes away from Hinohara, so I suppose now would be a good time for your little gift. When’s your birthday?”

“It was three weeks ago,” he told her.

“Well, it’s a belated birthday present from me. It’s in the glove compartment.” Tentatively, he opened the compartment and found a black cardboard box sitting there. “That’s the one,” Red prompted him as he took it out. “Go on, open it.” With his usually steady hands, he opened the lid and flinched away from his contents.

“What is this?”

“I would have thought that, as a detective, you would be able to tell at this point.” Ever-so-briefly, she looked at him then, her eyes unreadable. These were the two sides of Red, from what little he’d seen of her – the side that was easy to laugh with, full of life and energy, and the side that was serious, business-like, with that fire in her eyes that had no doubt burned there for years.

In the box was sat a relatively sleek and light silver gun. It had been carefully polished, and he could tell that it was more-or-less brand new. Next to it in the box were (he’d have to hazard) as many bullets as Red could fit in, and he picked one up and admired it in the light. These looked polished as well, but why? Well, some people just didn’t like giving a sub-standard gift. Ginoza himself was one of these people. “It’s a gun.”

“It’s a silver-plated gun with silver bullets,” Red elaborated. “Consider it your anti-werewolf protection. You already know how to fire it, right?”

“I do,” he said gravely. “Why would I need one of these?”

“As much as the both of us are happy to help you at any time – as your mother would be, too – sometimes that help may not arrive when you want it to. So it’s better to be safe then sorry. The silver bullets can maim a wolf no matter where it hits, but if you get it in the heart or brain, then you’d likely kill them. The same principle as humans, really, except that it has to be silver. Any other kind of bullet wouldn’t be effective. At all.”

“Did it hurt you?”

“Huh?”

“Did touching the gun, did touching the bullets, hurt you?”

“I burned my hands a little bit, but it’s no-”

“Of course it’s a big deal! You shouldn’t have done that… or at least be more careful!” he looked at the gun and the bullets with an expression akin to hatred. “I don’t really like weapons in general, as necessary as you may think they are. Don’t hurt yourself for my sake again, Red.”

“Akane.”

“Hmm?”

“Akane. Call me Akane.”

“Alright then. Don’t hurt yourself for my sake, Akane.”

“I’ll try, Ginoza, but I think some things are worth getting hurt over.”

The car pulled to a stop, and the happy Re- Akane – had returned, and her face split into a wide smile. “Welcome home, Ginoza!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Ginaka there... (my other OTP) But don't worry, this fic is going to be Kougino~ Hopefully I'm going to write a cute scene for those losers. It makes a change from all the confusion and general murder. Additionally, in case there's some confusion, this chapter happens ONE DAY before chapter six.


	8. Autumn from the Disappearing Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginoza and Akane enter the village in an attempt to bring back the past. Meanwhile, Kougami's new "friend" assures him that "Red" is his foe, and there's no way in hell the alpha will stand for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe me when I say this is the calm before the storm.

After that, Ginoza’s mind seemed to be filled with static, and it felt like his body had gone numb, almost like he wasn’t controlling it. Akane’s mouth was moving, explaining something, but her words, meant to assuage and to calm, fell on unhearing ears. Eventually, when he said nothing at all, she seemed to understand that she’d shocked him deeply. “Gi…noza?” she prompted gently, the smile freezing on her face before slowly melting like snow in the spring. “Ginoza, didn’t you… already know?”

He shook his head, and looked at the gun; the reflective surface of the metal was warping and distorting his features – which could have been counted as a blessing, since he had taken on an almost sickly pallor.

“Didn’t you… work it out already? From your mother’s letter? Or Kougami’s story?” she sounded crestfallen, edging on guilty. “I thought... that you-“

“I had suspicions. That’s what all the signs were pointing to anyway,” his voice was barely above a whisper, not quite wanting to speak too loud. “It doesn’t make sense, even if I am. Was I there when Hinohara was..?”

“You were,” Akane nodded slowly. “Just like I was, too.”

“I’m older than you, so I should be able to remember it. I would have been around Kougami’s age, wouldn’t I? So, then…” he frowned at his steady hands. He was confused and frightened, almost like a little child, so why wasn’t he shaking? Maybe he’d feel just a little bit more normal if he did that. “Akane. Tell me something. What am I?”

“…Ginoza, listen,” Akane’s voice was soft and something in her voice resembled the embrace of a family member, comforting, and very much needed in times of distress. “There was a reason I brought you here, but… it wasn’t to be selfish, or anything. It’s been years, Ginoza, and your mother and I… we wanted you to remember. Especially now.”

“So in the space of two days, you thought it was okay to break the news to me all at once?” he spat, bitterly, anxiety being replaced by anger. “Don’t give me your bullshit about how it’s all in my best interests! The hell it is!” Akane tried to speak up and he nearly felt guilty, but no, he was too angry to even stop the hurtful words flowing from his mouth. “I never asked to be part of this werewolf crap! Even when I met Kougami, I never agreed for any of this shit to happen!” At this, Akane looked horrified and visibly flinched away from him. “Okay, so maybe I was curious. You got that right. It’s in my nature, and necessary for my job to find the truth. But this! Werewolves and disasters that have nothing to do with me! No thank you! I’d rather just return home and go back to the normal life I was living less than a week ago, thank you very much!”

“Oh, shut up!” she snarled, resembling Kougami when he was angry too. “Nothing to do with you? Don’t be ridiculous! You’ve been involved in this for years and years, detective, so don’t give me _your_ bullshit about the nice cushy life you were leading!” The fire in her eyes was ablaze now, and its fury directed at him. “If everyone else has to deal with this, so what makes you exempt from that? You’re from Hinohara, just like everyone else! I don’t care if you don’t like it – do you think everyone else does?”

“No, I-”

“Right!” she huffed, flopping back on her seats. “Things, to be quite honest with you, aren’t that bad yet, but they sure as hell will be pretty soon! Do you know what that means?”

“Not really.”

“It means we have a chance to get as much help as we can get. You know this region doesn’t have an Okami in charge?!” He tried to reply, but she continued on. “That means we’re weak right now! Really weak! If we got an attack now, we’d all die! Me, your mother, and Kougami too! Everyone!”

“Who the hell’s attacking you?!” he roared. If Akane wanted a yelling match, then he’d give her one. He’d had enough of being pulled one direction and then another. “Who in the hell would want to kill everyone?! Why the fuck would they want to?!”

“I don’t know! Our enemy’s invisible to us – how are we meant to fight against that, huh?! All we know is that they’re from Chubu!” Her spirit hadn’t been diminished by Ginoza’s anger; if anything, it had strengthened. “Which is wonderful, because guess what? Chubu is the biggest region! He could be from anywhere! He’s got spies everywhere! Who’s a friend?! Who’s a foe?!”

“If you don’t know anything, then why are you dragging people like me into your mess! How the hell are you going to fix this?!”

“Oh, how am **_I_ ** going to fix this?!” she repeated his words, her tone incredibly dangerous. “Like this is my fault! And you know something, Ginoza?!”

“What?!”

“Even if you wanted to go back, you can’t anymore!” she said, and he could feel that fighting spirit ebb away almost. “Nobody can. And I thought at the very least… that you could help us. And yeah, maybe I dig drag you into it a little bit.”

“Hey, no, that’s not true,” his resentment seemed to fade a little bit. “I guess I did involve myself too. But really, there’s no going back?”

“Cliché, but true. Maybe you might get it back one day, but it won’t be any time soon. No, Tougane got your blood on him when he attacked you. I have no doubt in my mind that he’s working for our villain, so it’s likely he took your scent back to his leader. They may come after you. So…” she unbuckled the seatbelt. “We can’t have you in the dark anymore.” She made to step out the car, and Ginoza hastily stuffed the gun box lid back on and shove it in his borrowed coat and followed her. “Ginoza, will you help me?”

She turned to face him from the entrance of the village, a grand gateway announcing the symbols for the deserted village, proclaiming it a cypress field. Well, trees certainly were abundant. Scanning over the village made him feel just a bit lonely, and he couldn’t even remember this horrendous tragedy he’d apparently witnessed. He didn’t even want to think about what Akane’s bittersweet expression meant she was feeling.

“Alright then,” he agreed, joining her. He waited for some kind of nostalgia, but nothing… well, things weren’t that easy. What was he expecting, some kind of ridiculous miracle? “Let’s go, then. I’m sorry about yelling.”

“Me too.” She looked ashamedly at the ground. “Are you really okay with this?”

“We don’t even know if it’ll work,” he reminded her gently, but not meaning to be pessimistic.

“If it does, it’s revealing the darkest parts of your memory,” she shuffled awkwardly again. “Would you be okay with that?”

“At least I’m remembering something,” he tried to ease her apprehension, and she nodded in appreciation. “Okay.” With that, the two of them took a step through that gate into Hinohara.

It certainly had an ethereal sense to it, Ginoza had to admit, but he didn’t particularly feel…scared. The only thing that seemed to hint that something had happened here was perhaps the scorch marks and scratches on certain houses, and the fact that one had been razed to the ground, preserved almost like it happened not the day before. At that, Akane had almost moved behind him as they passed that house, closing her eyes as if shielding herself. _That was her house_ , Ginoza realised. _Did everyone die in that fire?_

“Are you remembering anything?” Akane asked, overtaking him as if leading him somewhere.

“As of now, nothing,” he told her glumly.

“Well, let’s not lose hope. It’s not like you had any connection to that place, anyways.” Her optimistic tone had a hidden shadow in it, yet he made no comment, not seeing a particular point in doing so. “I was thinking that we could head over to the main house. It’s hard to miss.” Without Akane noticing, Ginoza’s eyes began surrounding the village for this unmissable main house, which he had yet to notice. He supposed that the large house peeking over the village would have to be it.

Briefly, he wondered where Kougami’s house was situated, but refused to let morbid curiosity dictate his decisions. There was nothing to be gained from visiting Kougami’s childhood home – no doubt that the place was filled to the brim with bad memories and just a general dark feeling. Maybe Akane felt the same way about her home, too. That was when he remembered that Akane must have been the childhood friend of Kougami’s, whose house had burned down and… she killed her parents too, with Kougami’s assistance.

Wasn’t there a peaceful solution those two could have found?

Well, no point kicking Akane while she was already down with questions. Not here, not in the heart of Hinohara. The village itself was how Ginoza- remembered, expected? – it to be; broken planks sticking out the side of what little buildings remained standing, the gardens in the village town long dead. Many of the homes are dark with soot, but they still stand. Some vandal, who he’d have thought returned after the disaster had gone, had spray painted a wolf on fire on a semi-demolished wall which had cracked right down the center of the wolf’s face, making it looked demented. The charred hills are strewn with leaning buildings like broken teeth in a burned jawbone – everything this village once had to offer was abandoned, and something within Ginoza shatters, like glass being crunched mercilessly underfoot. Out of the corner of her eyes, Akane was watching, banking Ginoza’s reactions, and desperately hoping something came back.

“You’d never think that this place used to be so beautiful,” Akane broke the silence as they walked, a wistful gaze in her eyes. “Me and my friends enjoyed messing around by the river. Which was awkward, because I can’t swim.” She laughed at a memory long distant. “There was this one time I fell in and they had to come and rescue me. I didn’t float that far down stream, but I sure gave them a scare!” she giggled. “Huh. I wonder if we could have had more times like that…” she shook her head. “Oh well! No point moping about it now. It won’t exactly change anything.” She turned to look at her mostly silent partner. “Remember anything at all?”

“Not really,” he sighed again. “Sorry, I know I must be annoying you…”

“Huh? What? No, no!” she waved her hands as if embarrassed. “It’s fine! This was just seeing if… uh… it did help you remember! I know lots of Hinoharans don’t remember Hinohara at all! Like a… supressed memory! Yeah!”

She wasn’t doing a great job of convincing him. 

Despite her somewhat-forced ditzy behaviour, Akane was getting incredibly worried. This method should have worked, shouldn’t it? Maybe bringing him to the pinpoint of times long forgotten wasn’t enough. But still, the way he was acting suggested he was subconsciously recalling fragmented shards of it… or was that being too hopeful?

Once again, they passed a house in speechlessness, but this one seemed to bring something back for Ginoza, even if he didn’t really understand it.

 _“Oi, Nobu! You’re not being fair! Tell me if I can be the alpha or not!”_ a dulcet voice called out, sounding somewhat grumpy. On the porch of that house (or rather what remained of it) were three hazy figures which he couldn’t see clearly.

 _“Kougami Shinya! You’re not meant to use his powers for selfish reasons! Ignore him, Nobu. He’s already got a head so big you could pop it with a pin.”_ The smallest figure announced; this one was obviously a little girl. The other one must be Kougami and the last one… him, apparently.

 _“I do not!”_ Kougami argued.

 _“You do too!”_ the little girl retorted.

 _“C’mon, Nobu! I’m your best friend, right?! Come on, tell me!”_ Kougami wheedled. _“If I’m alpha that means I’ll have to look after you and stuff!”_

 _“As if I needed the help!”_ Ginoza realised that must have been his old self talking. _“Knowing you, I’ll have to get you out of danger all the time instead.”_

_“What? As if!”_

Akane had been watching him as he stared at the house in a trance. “Hey, Akane,” he called over slowly. “I remembered a little bit of something. But nothing important. I was just talking to my friends when I was a kid. I think it was Kougami wanting to become an alpha, and I was refusing to tell him if he could do it…”

“It’s a start. But still, nothing else about you, specifically?”

“Nope.”

Hence they progressed through the village, Akane stopping outside of certain points and hoping for any semblance of a memory, but Ginoza normally just shook his head, feeling like he was letting her down, despite her words of comfort saying it wasn’t a problem. Even Ginoza could tell she was still getting disheartened, which was relatively upsetting for somebody as upbeat as Akane.

Eventually, they came to the main house, and out of the entire village, it was the most untouched, and the one that seemed to inspire any kind of emotion at all, but it came without reasoning, so he pushed it aside, and strode purposefully into the house. A part of him was anticipating that it would be empty, but it was still fully furnished, but things were mostly ripped and torn and thrown aside as if whoever did this was searching for someone. This time, it was he leading the way instead of Akane, who seemed to shadow him. He’d never thought it possible for someone’s footfalls to be that silent… sort of like a cat on the prowl. “It’s weird, I know my way around. What is this place?” he turned to her and she nodded solemnly.

“It’s the main house, like I said. It’s where the Okami lived, and I guess it’s kind of like… a palace?” she shrugged.

“What would a human like me be doing in the main house of Hinohara?” he wondered aloud and Akane kept silent. “Kou said that the village was a cohabitation of humans and wolves, so I guess I could have been in here a couple of times.” Akane’s silence persisted, and he realised she wasn’t even listening to him, and was about to snap at her before she held out her hand and grabbed his arm, stopping him from progressing. Her eyes were wide but her eyebrows were creased downwards, making her appear somewhat derailed and sort of dangerous. “Akan-?”

“Shut up,” her voice was low, calculating. “Get your gun out and load it.”

“What?”

“You heard me, Ginoza. Someone else is here. They’ve been here this entire time, but they just now got careless.”

“So what do I do?”

“You stay here, and I’ll go and meet them,” she sounded determined.

“But you could get hurt!”

“So?”

“You literally just promised me you wouldn’t get hurt for my sake.”

“And I said some things are worth getting hurt over,” her tone was almost vicious, but he knew it wasn’t directed at him. “Quit stalling, get out your damned gun!” Eyes blazing at him (if looks could kill, he’d be ascending to the astral plane), he obliged, emptying most of the bullets out the box and into his pocket, before discarding the box on the floor. After that he slowly loaded the gun and she nodded stiffly at him. “Stay here. Use that only if necessary. As you can tell, the silver is pretty expensive when you’re bulk-buying.”

With that, she left, leaving Ginoza stood there. And it was only then did he recall the protection charm, and pulled it out of his pocket. Something about it unnerved him. How had that old man known precisely where he lived, and the exact Kanji in his name?

***

Kougami Shinya, for his part, had been having one hell of a day. The urgent call from Shion, who’d been essentially acting as his middle-management since the day of Ginoza’s attack, had said that Kagari had picked up one of the scents on the border, belonging to the bitch a couple of days ago who told him he’d never see Ginoza again, or as she’d said, ‘Red’.

According to Sasayama, she’d been talking to Gino as well, and the two seemed to be “ _getting veeeery cushy, if you catch my drift_.” Kougami did indeed catch his drift, and after a long time contemplating it (and by long time, he meant the drive from Shion and Yayoi’s shared house back to his shared apartment with Gino) and came to the ultimate decision that in all likelihood, ‘Red’ was an enemy, using Ginoza to weaken him. Gaining his trust just to stab him in the back. Even so, the woman he’d met a couple days, as bitchy and cryptic as she was, didn’t have the eyes of a killer. So, as much as he’d hated to admit it, Red wasn’t their killer, which meant he was dealing with more than one threat. He’d done that before, and it was fine.

But he had to make those two understand that he was not moving from his position of alpha. If anything, it was absolutely imperative that he was the alpha. His childhood friend had counted on to become one and he’d fucked it up. Their happy life was still ruined and all he could do was hurl threats at his foe. And now, he was 100% certain that their murderer was the genocide-committing freak at Hinohara, and he was purposely screwing with him.

He expected when he got home to cuddle up to Ginoza for the old comforts of old times, and hands smoothing over his hair, but again, no Gino. “Goddammit,” he cussed. “If that moron has done something dangerous, I swear to God… is he trying to make me die from worry? I swear this isn’t healthy…” he grumbled. Eventually, he found a note sitting on the table for him.

 **Shinya, I should hopefully be back soon, but if you get here before me, don’t panic. I’ve gone out with Red to some café. She’s returning my jacket and buying me a drink to apologise.** **Since the weather’s terrible, and I don’t have a coat (or sensible shoes) I’ve borrowed some of yours. Hope you don’t mind.**

“For fuck’s sake!” he roared at nothing in particular, scrunching the note up in his hand and slamming it on the table. “Do you enjoy putting yourself in danger or something?” After that, he’d run through all the swearwords in his vocabulary, pacing and thinking of something to do. A café. _That’s really fucking specific, thanks, Gino_ , he rolled his eyes. Followed immediately by _oh my god she could be killing him. He could be in danger. And I’m sat on my ass._

He could always ring Sasayama, but if he was doing his werewolf-job or “real person job”, it was likely he wouldn’t answer. Same with Sho or Kagari. And Yayoi was out of the area. His back up would be Shion but her strength didn’t lie in field work – it was analysing data and putting the pieces together for Shinya and his pack to work with. That meant he was by himself. He hadn’t seen any out-of-region wolves yet because of people targeting Gino.

“Dammit, Gino!” he yanked the chair out from under the table and threw it to the floor, and it did help in weakening his anger and frustrations. Then he picked it up and put it back, already sensing the nagging from Gino if he saw. “Where the fuck are you?!” Then, his cellphone rang and checking the caller ID said it was an unknown caller. “If this is a fucking telemarketer, I am going to lose my shit…” he growled, answering. “What?!”

“Would this be Kougami Shinya?” a voice, as smooth as silk and evidently well-educated, asked; it sounded… bemused, as it were.

“Speaking,” he answered curtly. “You’ve kind of called at a bad time, so could you make this kind of quick? It’s work-”

“Come now, don’t lie to me, Kougami Shinya,” the caller continued, and Kougami was convinced he could hear him smiling. “I know that you’re… busy. I thought that I could possibly… ease your burdens.”

“Oh, wonderful. An anonymous therapist,” he grumbled to himself. “Who hired you? It was Karanomori, wasn’t it?” he groaned.

“I am not your therapist,” protested the voice, but it certainly sounded amused. “Are you done wasting time, Kougami Shinya? I know of your current dilemma, and I can… give you help getting around it.”

“Bullshit,” he spat. “Look, I haven’t got any more time for your mysterious, all-knowing crap. I’ve got shit to do.”

“So crass, so crude, so curt,” he sighed. “Well, I know that your partner has gone missing, and you have no clues as to their whereabouts. I also know that he is with an unknown werewolf. Who challenges your authority. Who stands up to you. Who is obviously a threat to you. What name is she going for? Ah, yes. Red.”

“How the fuck did you know that?!”

“That is a matter for another day. I would say your predicament as of right now is much more pressing – I am ascertain we will converse again.” What was this pretentious garbage speaking like he owned the goddamn place? “Well, a friend in need is a friend indeed, as they say. I’ll tell you where… Red, and Ginoza, have gone out for the day.”

“It’s not a fucking café, is it?”

“I can see why you became a detective,” came the mocking answer. “Where do you think they possibly could have gone? Red is purposely trying to string you and Ginoza along, you realise this. So where better place to take him, then –“

“Hinohara.” He breathed it, and anger swelled. “That little bitch! What the fuck is she doing?!”

“An excellent question, but I would advise that you head there imminently,” the voice wavered slightly, as if supressing laughter. “I will tell you, in confidence, my friend, that I can see them both well from where I am seated. You can trust me in not harming your beloved – Red and the people she works for are my enemies as well as yours. And what no better way than to begin an alliances with a common foe?”

“I guess.”

“You should hurry, Kougami Shinya. I am under the impression you would not like what those two are doing.” With that, the call ended as abruptly as it had begun, and Kougami could feel the rage boiling in his veins again. Without wasting any more of his precious seconds, he stomped out the house, not bothering in locking up behind him.

***

With extreme caution Red left the house and Ginoza behind her, sensing another nearby. With years of being hunted, targeted, running, she was no longer scared of invisible enemies; if anything, they could come at her. She had little to fear, and she could taste a fight coming for her. Furtively, she slunk behind cover, stripped off, and wolfed out. She could never, ever get used to that – was a lady not allowed a single shred of decency?!

Once she emerged, the black shadow lunged at her, eyes flashing red, and claws and teeth aimed for the kill. That would be if she wasn’t so lithe and used to these kind of things happening throughout her life. She recognized that smell, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or roll her eyes at this fool’s idiocy. Did he seriously not think?! At all?!

“Where’s Gino, bitch?” he wasted no time in snarling at her, fangs bared. Alpha or no, she wasn’t scared of him. “What the fuck have you done?”

“I haven’t done anything! Why are you attacking me?!” Akane spat back, getting annoyed at this alpha who thought he could do whatever he wanted since he was oh so important. Not to her, he wasn’t. All he’d done was getting in their way. “I’m not your enemy, asshole!”

“Like hell you’re not my enemy!” he snapped, making another move at her, but she avoided it again. Why wasn’t she striking back? “I know what you’re trying to do!”

“Enlighten me, then!” It was her who struck out towards him, and due to his frame being much larger than hers, he managed to evade the brunt of it, but it still cut through his skin, but it was nothing he’d never dealt with before. “I’m trying to help him!”

“Help him with what? There’s nothing he has to do with this!” he smiled, as if realising something. Akane could have flinched at that smile – that wolfish smile held with it a hidden insanity that had her momentarily stricken with fear, but she snapped right out of it. No time for fear, now, especially for an enemy she really didn’t have time for.

“Really?!” she yelled back. “You really sure about that, alpha?”

The way she said his title grinded his gears, like he was beneath her. Bullshit. Unless Red was an Okami, she was technically inferior to him… unless… unless… she was trying to be an alpha instead. So then, technically, she would replace him. Was she trying to replace him in all areas? The mysterious caller seemed to think so. He could smell Gino somewhere around here, he could sense him nearby, and he was just about done with this cryptic woman’s bullshit.

He struck, but Akane was quick. She leapt out of the way and tried to reach out for Kougami’s abdomen, not to kill, but to maim, and she felt the edge of a claw draw across her skin, making it burn with a small sting. Kougami’s expression was hard, unreadable, closed off… but definitely not sane.

The next strike Shinya aimed at her she managed to parry, but it swung maybe five centimetres from her face – he was alpha for a reason, after all, she thought to herself. Fortunately she was the one to land the next blow as it connected to his face, wrenching him away from her, and before he could react, she knocked his leg from underneath him, and he began to fall. Just in time, he gathered himself and lunged for Akane, sending her flying backwards. Approaching her, like a murderer for his neck victim, he thought he’d won; Akane began to scramble to her feet, and staggered into Kougami with as much force as she could muster, backing him into the undergrowth, branches snapping around them.

Suddenly, they were tumbling down a slope they’d failed to notice. The two somewhat tangled wolves rolled down the incline, the cloudy sky and green foliage spinning around them. In desperation, Akane grabbed hold of Shinya’s flack and once they’d come to a complete stop, threw him against a tree, ripping a shred of flesh from him as she threw him with a fair amount of force against a tree. A satisfied bone-cracking noise echoed out as the black wolf collided with the bark, and she saw he’d received an almighty thwack to the head. And now he’d decided to take nap.

Well, it made things easier. And she’d won this round. Maybe that asshole alpha wouldn’t underestimate her again.

Males – they’ve all trained against each other. They expect attacks to certain zones on their bodies and from someone who’s always relying on upper-body strength. And they always, always underestimated women.

Her joy was quickly shattered by the sound of gunfire not-so-far in the distance, and the only gun-carrier that she knew of was Ginoza. And he had a gun specifically tailored to killing werewolves, which meant that Kougami probably hadn’t come here alone. But he hadn’t come with a friend either.

“Dammit,” she whispered to herself, before grabbing Kougami by the scruff of the neck and began the struggle to bring the heavier wolf uphill, as another shot resounded out. Her struggle became much more frantic, claws digging into the unstable earth.

***

Outside, snarls and snaps continued and he could hear the muted words. Whatever, he trusted Akane to protect him from this intruder.

So he was left alone with this charm, but to him, it just seemed like a pathetic paper scrap, not worthy or strong enough to protect him from well… anything.

Quietly, almost so quiet they were borderline inaudible, but just in time, he avoided the bony pale hand that reached for him. In drawing his gun, the charm fluttered noiselessly to the floor, disturbing the dust gathered over nearly two decades. That was when he saw the newcomer’s face.

Golden eyes. White hair. Mullet style.

Not a friend. Not bearing good intentions. A killer.

The murderer stopped being interested in aiming for Ginoza and picked up the paper scrap with his name scrawled on it and judged it with a small smile, before making to tear it. Ginoza wasted no time in cocking the gun and firing it. The shot went wide, a warning shot.

“Now, don’t be like that,” the voice could potentially sound insulted, somewhat offended. “I’m only trying to help you.”

“I’m not buying that bullshit!” Ginoza aimed again, and shot again, and this time it brushed the murderer’s shoulder, staining the pure white hue of his shirt.

“Come along, Ginoza Nobuchika. Aren’t we old friends?” he smiled tauntingly. “I think it’s time for you to wake up now, don't you?"

With that, the paper doll ripped right down the centre of his name, breaking it apart.

The next thing he knew, Hinohara erupted into a cacophony of screams of ruthless insanity.


	9. Howls Echo From the Kingdom of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginoza remembers his past. He also remembers Kougami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sticking true to canon, Kougami is a huge bag of dicks.

Each breath he took felt like it was tearing out his insides, scratching the flesh in his throat. Underneath him, his feet fell clumsily on obstacles that weren’t even there, but his own panic pushed his plight onwards. Ginoza, without realising it, had entered a long-forgotten shard of his fragmented memories; but the fear that seemed to pump around his veins instead of blood distracted him from this sudden shift in scenery.

He was fleeing his home to escape those strange wolves which had rudely entered. His friend, upon seeing them, had thrown him out the window; surely, he should be angered by this, but he was just glad she’d saved him. And worried. Worried for her. Were they going to hurt her? As cruel as it was to admit, even to himself, she was behind him, and he couldn’t afford to turn back now – what lay ahead was all he had. Even the Ginoza who had fallen into this hellish nightmare understood perfectly what the aim was – to find Shinya, to find Akane, to find anyone and save them so they could escape.

Whatever that murderer had done back there, in the Hinohara of the present, it had damned well worked. Memories erupted in his mind, almost in a chain reaction; some were instantly forgotten, nothing but shifting sands in a vast desert.

The twenty-eight year old Nobuchika had fallen far into his own supressed consciousness and was reliving the most vivid memory of his past – the Hinoharan tragedy when he had just turned nine. Anything from the outside world couldn’t reach him from the surface, despite their desperate attempts to snap him out of it, save him from a horror which it wasn’t all that necessary for him to witness. Naturally, these voices were nothing but the whispering amongst the leaves in the evergreens – easily drowned out by the screaming from the hapless village.

By some miracle, he had found himself in the disaster at Hinohara. That killer without a name triggered this for sure. And there was no doubt in Ginoza’s mind that he’d always been in perfect control of the situation, regardless of what Kougami believed. And what he was experiencing now was definitely part of the plan too. Despite attempting to gain advantage over the killer, they’d walked right into his hands. “Nobuchika!” there was a scream behind him, and looking back ever so briefly told him his mother had begun to run behind him, attempting to catch up to him… or flee from their attackers.

As he sprinted down into the main village, right into the throng of danger with the returned people – he didn’t want to think about the person able to do that – and drew his sword out, just in case he needed to use it. However, he didn’t really… want to; perhaps there was a chance he could maim rather than kill? He shook himself down and found cover, where he could make his way to his destination in relative safety. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother stand, looking lost where he’d been standing not a second beforehand, turning her head from side to side in a panic. With that, she turned tail and sped to the house; Nobuchika had no idea why. What business in the house did his mother have that she’d risk her life against those wolves?

Well, as much as he cared for his family, this was not the time right now. Before he could make a move out of the underbrush and avoid the returned, there was a sudden flare of heat energy which made him sweat, even when laid close to the cool earth. Shielding his eyes from the bright light, he squinted and tried to work out precisely what had happened, and nearly yelled out in fear. Akane’s house was in flames. He barely supressed the noise of sorrow, but allowed a barely audible one to slip out.

Why hadn’t he seen it earlier? He should have been able to! And now, because he’d failed, everyone could die. In that moment, he truly detested himself for being a weakling, and tears misted over his vision. Weren’t these useless eyes of his meant to be able to see everything? Wasn’t that the reason he was so well respected in this village at such a young age? No! He didn’t have time for feeling sorry for himself. Doing that now would make him weaker than he already was.

Maybe the best thing to do was use his useless, worthless eyes. Then he breathed in calmly, like his father had told him to do, and emptied his mind for less than a split second before calling out to it ‘like an old friend’ and summoning what his father referred to as ‘fragments of chaos’. Nobuchika never understood why, since all he was doing was peeking into the future. And then it was there, as vivid as ever. It always felt like his soul had left his body and had started floating around above whatever scene he needed or wanted to see. Normally, the thoughts behind it were pretty basic: ‘I want to see myself in two years’ time’, for example. His father said he’d learn to get more accurate as he went along learning. Even so, it would be enough to tide him through today.,, he glanced up at the glaring sun. Tragedies were meant to happen under the guise of darkness, and certainly not in the middle of the day.

His wish this time was rather simple this time – _I want to see Akane in one minute’s time._ The response was pretty automatic, and his vision no longer saw the hell unfolding before him, but shifted to in front of Akane’s burning abode. The little girl had fled, her hair running loose behind her – _oh, that’s right_ , thought the Ginoza of the present, _she had her hair long back then_ – sweat rolling down her face and her clothes torn in places and scorched. In a slight movement of her head, he saw her eyes widen in terror before that harrowing scene was replaced with his present.

So there was very little time he had. And he knew, as well as anybody, that the future was subject to change. Bursting out from the bushes he sped past any undead or villagers seeking out loved ones and sped around to where he saw the scene unfold. To his surprise, Akane wasn’t there yet, so he looked around for his friend.

An ear-drum piercing scream sounded out from the blazing building and he saw a shadowy figure emerging and running as if her life depended on it. “Akane!” Ginoza yelled over to her, and her terror was momentarily subsided by relief, but it was quickly replaced as she ran into him with outstretched arms. Shaking hands grabbing onto the front of his shirt, she looked at him with tears spilling out her eyes – he’d never seen her like this. She smiled a lot, and she cried a lot, but not like this.

“Nobu, my grandma’s still in there! We have to go and help her! Nobu!” she pleaded, tugging at his shirt, but he shook his head sadly; going back in there would be suicide and a waste of her life. No, he couldn’t endanger her.

“Akane. It’s too dangerous. I bet your grandma’s going to come and get you, I promise. But you have to stay here. She doesn’t want you to get hurt.

Her sorrow was replaced with anger as she pushed away from him, turning back to the house, and in a flash of intuition, Ginoza saw the roof crashing to the floorboards, so blindly reached for his friend. “She’s old! She can’t get out in time!”

“Akane. Don’t,” he said weakly. “If you go that way, you’re going to die-”

“Shut up, shut up!” Akane stamped her foot. “I don’t care if I die, what about my grandma, huh?!” With that defiance, she turned around and made a beeline for the door, as the inevitable happened. The roof caved in before there was any hope of pulling any survivors out the wreckage, the entire thing engulfed in those bright orange flames. The strength seemed to vanish from Akane’s body as she fell forward, and Ginoza leapt forward to catch her. She didn’t cry, or even scream, but simply trembled like a newborn kitten, clinging onto Ginoza like he was the only thing keeping her standing. In hindsight, he probably was.

The only thing that broke the two children apart was the swinging of a silent sword high above them; since he noticed it a split second before it connected with any body part and shoved Akane on the floor as the sword clanged on the floor between them.

Without any hesitation, he scrambled to his feet and crashed into their foe… Akane’s… mother?! Why was she attacking them?! Then, he saw her eyes – they weren’t friendly and belonged to the eyes of somebody… not of this world. The force of the small boy careening into this person, who was neither living nor dead and weighed naught more than a paper ball, sent them both sprawling and the sword swirled out of his hand. Despite technology advancing to produce more effective and efficient weaponry, the sword had remained the official weapon of the wolves, and he doubted anything would change that.

The undead stared at it with a mental gleam in its eye, and picked it up slowly. With a laugh like rusty metal, it raised it and Nobuchika barely hopped out of the way to avoid it, and it clanged against the ground. Now he was unarmed and fear-stricken.  

_Step to the left, step to the right, avoid the swinging sword, Nobuchika._

“Mrs. Tsunemori, please, wake up!” he urged the elder woman, whose eyes were as distant, as if she wasn’t seeing the truth displayed right in front of her. Not only that, she qualified to be a part of his father’s pack – the strongest in the village, perhaps the strongest in the region. And he, a nine-year-old boy, Okami powers aside, had no chance of defeating this lady in a proper fight, especially without a weapon. Hoping to buy himself some time, he danced around their attacks; as quite agile and small, it was a very twisted child’s play. If he could just recover his sword, then everything would be slightly easier. And if, by some miracle, he managed to knock the blade from the elder wolf’s hands, then the playing field would even out. “Can you even hear me? Hey! Snap out of it!”

A screech from not-too-far away diverted his attention as he saw Akane’s father – with the same eyes her mother was wearing, no less – approaching his daughter, sword at the ready. He wasn’t going to… hurt his own child, was he?! This small diversion was enough for his current enemy to gain an advantage and brought the sword down in a smooth strike across his back. Luckily for him, it didn’t cut too deep, but already he could feel the fibres of his clothes sticking the wound. Still, for a nine-year-old, it _stung_.

Still, Akane was in trouble, so in a hurried frenzy, he threw himself under the blade being swung around in reckless abandon and seized his own. At best, this move was risky and for his efforts he received a smaller injury on his side, as well as matching grazes on his knees. But he didn’t mind this particularly, for time was of the essence, since Akane’s father had refused to draw his sword against his little girl… and had opted to strangle her instead. As bad as it sounded, that method was probably for the best – at least Ginoza had the chance to save her!

If Mrs. Tsunemori wasn’t in the way, that was.

Whilst Ginoza was trying to save her mother, Tsunemori Akane was desperately clawing at the hands on her throat blocking her airways. Her weak child’s fingers did nothing to ease the pressure placed on her neck, and her vision was already fading. It wasn’t fair – she didn’t want to die. All she could do at this point, as terrible as it was, was to grovel and beg for her life. “Da…d…dy…” she coughed out. “I…I’m…s-so…sor…ry…” Automatically, tears slipped out, as she realised – that was it, her life was over. It was kind of short, and boring, and the most spectacular thing about it was probably this very moment. No. It wasn’t fair. Even at a young age, she knew getting angry at her parents would be useless – they wouldn’t do this if it was really them. And they were gone. This person could have daddy’s face, daddy’s voice, but it was not her father. “I… fo..rgi…ve y-you-“

An onslaught of oxygen filled her lungs as the pressure eased off, and she found herself staring into the open, friendly eyes of her father. Out of the corner of his eye, Ginoza, who was still evading the continued attempted attacks of Mrs. Tsunemori, saw the man embrace his child. Well, at the very least, she was safe, and had somehow managed to reverse this corrupted miracle, before focusing back on stopping Mrs. Tsunemori progressing towards her loved ones in fear she’d kill them. Akane’s father was crying alongside his daughter, who allowed herself a smile as he place her gently on the floor, and then -

A disgusting sound of something being struck with so much force it shattered sounded out, followed by an equally horrendous sensation of something repulsive on her cheek, halting the rather one-sided conversation. Little Tsunemori Akane barely registered the screaming noise she seemed to be making as she gazed down in horror at her father’s corpse. Who’d done this?! An enemy? The people doing this? She’d never forgive them! Pulling her father’s sword out of his scabbard – it was far too big and heavy, but, by some miracle, she managed to wield it and aim it at her f… _riend_?!

“Woah, hey, Akane,” the voice sounded somewhat taken aback and innocent, but that was a dirty, dirty lie. “It’s only me. Come on, we have to go save Nobu.” Kougami Shinya had been donning a light blue casual yukata when this siege began, but nobody would have been able to know, from the sheer amount of blood soaking the fabric, splashed on Kougami’s face, which had arranged itself with the same laid-back smile he always had, the childish glint in his eye. Akane was, to put it frankly, disgusted, and she slapped the hand he’d offered her.

“Go die, _sairou_ ,” she spat at him venomously and he retracted his hand and scowled at her, before turning his back on her and trying to save Nobuchika, who was having a bit of a terrible time. His intention had been to stop the Tsunemoris from killing his friends, and if killing them was the way to do that – which he’d already proven it was – then he’d have to do that. That was what an alpha did – eliminated any kinds of threats! And especially threats to the Okami. He barely hesitated as he ran up to Mrs. Tsunemori and brought that metal bat above her skull, and brought it crashing down, eliciting another scream of grief from Akane, who had curled up on the ground, tears spilling from her eyes. That manic look of the undead seemed to vanish in her final seconds, and Nobuchika heard a small cry of dismay from the older woman. In her final moments, she, too had… she had also… returned to the person she was before.

“You okay, Nobu?” Kougami asked, kicking Mrs. Tsunemori’s dead body off his friend.

“What…”

“Hmm?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Nobuchika stood up and backed away from Kougami, picking up the sturdier and sleeker sword Mrs. Tsunemori carried, and aimed it at Kougami.

Akane lifted her head, and cast her eyes from her home to her mother and to her father, and stood up, collecting her father’s sword, and rose unsteadily to her feet. The blade was more like a walking stick than a weapon. Tsunemori Akane stood there, staring at the scene in front of her, and at her parents’ bodies – naught more than empty shells now – and trembled. She shook, and she shook, and she shook. She had lost everything that was so important so easily, too easily. Feeling like she did when she was even younger child, when her favourite glass ornament fell and shattered into a million tiny pieces, she wept – though the scale of the emotion couldn’t be compared. Finally, her senses returned back to earth from another plane of existence and properly saw Kougami. And in that instant, she immediately knew what a demon looked like – coated in blood, holding a weapon and surrounded by suffering and hellfire, with an innocent, friendly smile on his face.

“You guys, come on, we have to get out of here,” Kougami jerked his thumb behind him. “I told Sasayama I’d meet him out there when I got you two.” His friends didn’t respond and stared at him in disgust, fury, and ire. “What’s with you two? Come on!” he grabbed Nobuchika’s free hand and began to pull.

“I’ll tell you _what’s up_ , _asshole_ ,” Nobuchika’s voice hinted that Kougami was about to get yelled at, which he didn’t have time for – not only that, he was using one of his mother’s ‘forbidden words’ and it felt strange in his mouth. His voice also held a hint of danger which seem to tell Kougami that he had no place telling _him_ , an _Okami_ , what to do. “You just murdered Akane’s parents in _cold blood_. Why the hell would we follow you where nobody can see us? For all we know, you could kill us too!”

“What? It wasn’t in cold blood! They were going to kill you! Just because they had the faces of her parents doesn’t mean they were! They were already dead!” Kougami protested. “Look, I’m sorry. Really. I just wanted to save you two is all…”

“Why? Why did you kill them? You’re cruel! You’re too cruel! You devil! Why did you have to kill them? Why?!” Her quiet questions developed into full blown screeches of catatonic grief.

“I already told you. They were about to kill you. I saved your life.”

“No! Daddy… understood! He understood me! You’re a demon. I’ll kill you. I’m going to kill you! My daddy was back! He came back! He understood me!” She screamed, and joined Ginoza’s side. Ginoza didn’t know what to say, so said nothing at all.

“You guys, come on… that could have been part of their act. They could have done that so they could kill you easier!” Shinya protested, really at his patience’s end. “Stop being stupid, and put those damn things down.”

“I won’t,” Nobuchika protested, and held it up to his friend. “You’re a murderer, as far as I can see. And murderers are criminals.”

“For… God’s sake!” Kougami lifted his bat up. “You’re my friend and all, but if I have to knock you out to drag you to safety, I will.” His expression softened. “I’d rather not, though. I don’t want to hurt you.” Then the steel in his eyes was back. “Come on, Nobu. Don’t be like this. We don’t have time!”

“I’d rather stop you here before you turn any more kids into orphans,” Ginoza indicated for Akane to stay back. _Could he really fight Kougami with all these wounds?_ “A bat against a sword. Are you going to kill me like you did Akane’s loved ones?”

“Don’t… don’t be ridiculous!” he argued, but brought the bat in front of him.

Without a single warning, he streaked towards his best friend (was he even that anymore?) who quickly placed both hands on the bat to block an otherwise devastating blow from Ginoza. If Ginoza could fool himself that this was just another sparring match between them, he would stop feeling so guilty. Even as Ginoza found himself pushed back by the blockade, he leapt towards Kou’s side and ran the blade along the skin of cheek, a thin red strike appearing there. In all honesty, he’d been aiming a little bit closer to his neck, believing that perhaps a minor injury there that told his derailed friend that this was serious, but in his hurry, Ginoza had missed his target.

However, Kougami parried the next blow with the bat and kicked Ginoza in the stomach, winding him slightly, but he lunged at Kougami. Pulling him as close as he dared to his body, Ginoza jabbed him in the stomach with his knee and in the face with his elbow in an attempt to disorientate him slightly. This did have some effect but Ginoza was thrown to the ground nonetheless. Collecting his first blade, he used it to parry the bat upwards and use the other to slice his side; in defence, Kougami brought up his fist and slammed it into the side of Ginoza’s head, which made spots appear in his vision for longer than he’d have liked them to, and he fell on his ass.

Making out like he was going to bring it crashing down onto Ginoza’s skull, Kougami raised that bloodied baseball bat. Without even thinking about it, Ginoza grabbed his dagger and plunged it into Kougami’s side. He knew he hadn’t hit any vitals, but a wound like that would probably need some serious attention. The bat tumbled out of his hands and onto the floor next to Ginoza, and Kougami Shinya curled up into a ball, clutching the wounds. “Dammit…” he cursed, and looked at Gino, and then smiled again, like it wasn’t a problem. “Guess you won this round? What’s that now? 34 to me and… 37 to you. Heh. Looks like you’re winning, Nobu.” With that, he closed his eyes, but Ginoza saw his chest moving. So he hadn’t killed him.

Akane rushed over, eyes wide and questioning. Ginoza managed to smile at her before flopping onto his back, his head pulsing from the blow. Next to him, Akane shuddered, before ripping the fabric of her mother’s sleeve off of her body and used it to staunch the bleeding in Kougami’s side. “Nobu, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he answered, eyes scrunching shut. “Just got a headache.” Yeah, a headache that felt like it was smashing his brain with a rock.

“Nobuchika!” a familiar voice called out, and through the thick fog in his mind, he managed to find the source – his mother was running towards him. She was alright. Maybe she’d gone back home to find Father… yeah, that’s it. “Are you okay?”

“..’m fine,” his words were slurred. Probably not a good sign. “Kou’s not.”

“I think Akane’s taking care of him,” his mother’s voice really was nice. He was happy he remembered it, as she knelt next to him and rubbed his hair. “Everyone’s trying to escape but… we may have to surrender before anyone else gets hurt. Sorry, _I_ should surrender. You, Tsunemori and Kougami need to flee, alright?”

“What about you and dad?” he asked, shakily getting onto his knees, using his makeshift sword as support. In response, his mother shook her head softly.

“Never mind that,” she rubbed his hair gently, almost knowing his head was tender. “Nobuchika, will you forgive me?”

“Forgive you? What f-”

Before he had chance to finish that sentence, his mother’s palm slammed into his forehead, a paper doll connected to it, and he felt a searing pain through his head, as if someone was cleaving his skull in two. As soon as it had come, it was gone, and his mother held the scrap triumphantly in her hand and caught him as he fell back again. And then, even in his stupor, he felt her muscles stiffen beneath him, as taut as a wire, and rough, uncaring arms dragging him away, whilst his mother pleaded for the lives of all three children to be spared.

The last thing he saw before his eyes inevitably closed was Kougami standing up, and dragging Akane away from the village. In those few final seconds, he turned around to look at his friend and said something, but was too far away for Ginoza to hear him. What was he saying?

But everything must come to an end-

And he found himself back on the floorboards of the main house, the killer examining the scraps he held in his hands. Apparently, he’d been unconscious for quite some time since the white-haired man had sat down. But realising that Hinohara’s surviving Okami was awake, he grinned hellishly. He didn’t particularly understand why that chilling smile on his otherwise handsome features brought on deep-seated terror.

So that’s what he was. Okami. An Okami with all-seeing eyes. The irony that he wore glasses was not lost on him.

Still, the killer said nothing, so the only sounds that could be heard were the pounding of fists against the locked front door. “Don’t listen to him, Gino! He’s a lying bastard! What he’s showing you isn’t the truth! Don’t look! I’m begging you not to look! Please!” Kougami’s cries reverberated through the thin wood, but the damage was done. Ginoza didn’t quite want to believe it, but he knew that the person he had loved had been an illusion. Or maybe he’d been fooling himself this entire time, ignoring Kougami’s dark side. He wouldn’t be that much of an idiot again.

“Is this what you wanted?” he asked simply.

“Perhaps,” was the answer.

“You’re not going to kill me, are you?” Ginoza knew he’d walk out of this alive – this time. If this situation should repeat, then he would not be so lucky. “That would be too easy, too boring.”

“You possess more intelligence than you let others see,” the killer commented quietly. “Interesting, but you are correct. No, today will not be the day I kill you.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Ginoza shot back sardonically.

“Precisely. This won’t be the last time we will meet. Surely you know what I do want?”

“I do. Your sworn enemy is Kougami, not me,” he replied flatly. “And a way through him is me. That would be an obvious way, but effective nonetheless.”

“I tire of that trope. For example, if I kill you, it will be a straightforward hunt for my blood,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “However, I do not wish for us to be enemies.”

“Considering everything you’ve done, you’re pushing it there.”

“Yes, I am trying my luck today. But yes, I plan on using you as a weapon against Kougami Shinya.”

“Joy,” Ginoza replied dryly.

“You won’t be harmed if you must know – I want your assistance. Think of the irony in that. Kougami Shinya will be forced into a stalemate. He won’t attack a beloved, after all.”

“You want me to help you in whatever schemes you’re planning.”

“So intelligent, Inspector.” The title made him flinch – this man really knew his personal life, didn’t he?

“Well, my reply would be…” The man watched him with appraising eyes, glinting in anticipation. “Fuck off.”

“Ah, I see,” he stood up. “Rather expected. I won’t persuade you otherwise, but there’s very little for you here. It’s a weak, sentimental option. Well, I suppose for now I bid you adieu, Ginoza Nobuchika. I look forward to future encounters.”

“I can’t really say the same.”

And with that, he left, and the door which Kougami had been desperately trying to open did so, and the alpha wolf fell in and scrambled to his partner. "Gino! Gino! Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine, Kougami,” Ginoza stood up, and brushed off Kougami, to the other’s dismay. “I just remembered some things. Important things.” Behind Kougami, Akane quietly and meekly entered – who knew a reunion with his long lost childhood best friends would be like this?

“What things? Gino!” Kougami snapped, trying to grab hold of Ginoza’s non-injured shoulder, but the latter avoided it deftly.

“You already know, don’t you, Akane?” Ginoza looked to her, and she nodded silently.

“He’s the Okami, _sairou_ ,” her voice was low, and her eyes hard as nails. Kougami flinched at that and looked questioningly at Ginoza, who ignored the hurt in his eyes. Sort of like a kicked puppy.

“I also remembered that you’re a killer, Kougami.” Ginoza turned away from him fully, so Kougami could only see the back of his head. “I don’t want to see your face for a few days.” Kougami, on his part, was staggered, and cursed that day inwardly, and the bastard he’d spied through the window. _I’m coming to kill you, asshole. That way, I’ll repent for whatever sins I committed that day_. It was a perfect idea, and soon enough, it was about to consume him. “Akane, could you take me home?”

“Alright,” she smiled at him, and it was reciprocated wanly. “Are you alright? You must be pretty shocked.”

“I’m fine. We’ll talk about it later,” he waved her down, and the two shuffled out of the house, leaving Kougami standing there. Before he crashed onto the chair that mullet-wearing bastard had just vacated.

Normally, Ginoza would have talked to him about things that were bothering him, but now he’d been replaced by that bitch, Akane. Wasn’t she meant to be his good old friend, after all? Everything was going to be under control and fine until she showed up. And he knew that Akane wasn’t acting alone – he smelt other wolves on her. It wasn’t like he could give her the same treatment that white-haired asshole was going to get, since that would worsen things with Ginoza.

But whoever she was working for was going to pay.

***

“So, your beloved Nobuchika is back?” the junior wolf turned to her leader, who was sat above the scene, like a little child swinging her legs on the tree branch.

“Yes,” the woman agreed. “As much as I’m happy his memories have returned, this is far from over, Shimotsuki. The storm is still on its way, faster than ever.”

“And he’s just shunned the alpha, which is fantastic,” Shimotsuki Mika rolled her eyes, marvelling at how fickle the Okami was. Just from getting pissy he’d thrown away a pretty useful ally… and the current alpha pack. “He’s an idiot. We’re already down in numbers. It’s me, you, Akane, Ginoza… and… oh, that’s it! Four of us against the entire Chubu region, because of that absolute **_moron_**.”

“Shimotsuki, you forget he’s my son,” the woman commented, looking at the younger wolf with a smile that held no malice.

“Your son is an idiot,” Shimotsuki told her decidedly. “Because of him, we don’t have manpower.”

“You’re wrong,” she corrected the younger woman. “He is kinder than other’s anticipate. In due time, I’m sure he’ll find it somewhere to forgive Kougami. Then, we can strike back for sure this time. And _win_.”


	10. Unbreakable Bonds that Connect Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being apart just isn't for them, no matter how much they pretend it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone who's been reading/commenting since it's giving me motivation to keep going with this. This is the final chapter of 2015, and I think it's a good note to end on. But this is far from over. Probably. This is also the longest chapter I've written so... Happy New Year???

A nice, stiff drink. That was what Kougami Shinya needed. A nice, stiff drink or ten or two hundred. There was no way in hell… there was no way in hell that Gino… was the Okami. It was impossible, but at the same time, it explained a lot of things. But still… he didn’t want Gino to ever necessarily been involved in his past.

Though he’d never admit it, Kougami Shinya was trying his hardest to ignore his past and pretend it never happened. But now, it had walked smack into him in the form of Tsunemori Akane – what the hell had she got against him? No, she couldn’t still blame him for saving her that day, could she? In hindsight, maybe he should have let her die. Save him a lot of hassle.

_No, no, Kougami. You don’t want that._

As much as he hated to admit it, if a second storm was coming, then all personal feelings had to be pushed aside to survive long enough to even have petty arguments like these. But it’s not petty, is it, Shinya? This is far from petty – a normal person would have stabbed you in your sleep a long time ago. For some reason, Tsunemori wanted him alive. Well, no point dwelling on it here.

Glinting in the light amongst the otherwise matte setting of the house, something caught Kougami’s eye and he stooped down for a better look, to find a bullet cartridge tumbled to the floor. Who had a gun? Shouldn’t there be blood? He reached out for this cartridge – surely it couldn’t be Gino’s, he was never one for violence –

As soon as his fingertips so much as brushed the surface, he threw himself away from him, convinced his skin had been set aflame. “Ah, shit,” he examined his fingers but saw no physical marks. “What the fuck?” Then it hit him. “Fucking silver.” Well, if a bullet had been shot, and if this gun was Gino’s – all signs were pointing to him, since wolves evidently couldn’t touch a silver gun – then he’d surely hit his mark in some form.

Face practically the ground, he began scouring the area for a single, solitary drop of blood. That would be enough – then he could bring the damn bastard to justice. Personal issues could wait. If he ignored them, perhaps they’d go away (they wouldn’t). After nearly twenty minutes of literally sniffing around, he found his lucky break; merely a smear of blood in between the floorboards. Which meant he had a plan for the next few days, and he had to place a few calls

The first call was to Hinakawa, who answered after precisely three rings Following Kagari’s advice, Sho had decided that three rings was the optimal amount of rings – you didn’t appear to keen, and you didn’t appear like you were purposely ignoring the person either, and it helped ease the anxiety of answering the telephone. “H-Hello,” his meek voice answered. “How can I help you, pack leader?”

“You need to come to Hinohara,” he stated simply. “I’ve got a faint scent which I need you to track. You have the best nose after all.”

“It’s a g-good thing I booked a day off work,” Hinakawa tried to joke, like Kagari once told him to do which made people like him more.

“Good man. How was your scent at the scene’s going?”

“Not very good, I didn’t find the one you were asking me to track, but I found a few. The Nagoyan wolf has been around… been around many wolves…” Sho trailed off, as if trying to remember. “There were t-two.”

“Two, eh?”

“Yes, two,” Hinakawa agreed eagerly, and Kougami heard the sound of his creaky old car door opening. “Both from Chu-bu. One of them was a g-girl from around Shizuoka, and the other was from Ni-Niigata.” There was the loud sound of an old engine juddering to a start, which Kougami could only assume was Sho’s Mazda.

“Good man,” Kougami praised the youngest wolf, knowing the poor guy had insecurities. “But why Shizuoka and Niigata? Is there a connection between the three cities? Nagoya is a core city, Shizuoka is the centre of arts, and Niigata is relatively modernized. Hey, Hinakawa?”

“Ah! Y-Yes?” Apparently, he had not been paying attention to the pack leader, but Kougami knew what a careful driver that kid was.

“Do you think Chubu’s banding together?” he asked. “If wolves from three core cities are banding together, then…”

“W-well, it’s always a p-possibility.” His stutter was worse when he was driving; he was always a little worried that any second a van would come bashing into him, and that was it. It never did, but it was a decent worry. “Um, Kagari says that he’s talked to everyone and they’re happy to he-help. Which is really, really good. They’re all wait*ing for your next orders is – is what – is…”

“Wasn’t that Sasayama’s job?” Kougami interrupted him, frowning.

“Um, Kagari took on the jo-job himself.”

“Why?” _Kagari and Sasayama are always fighting for first place as biggest lazy-asses in Japan, so why would Kagari do two jobs?_

“Sasayama bought him that game he wanted.”

“Fuckin’ Sasayama,” he sighed mainly to himself. _He really is number one lazy asshole now. Congratulations, Sasayama._ “Don’t sweat it, Hinakawa.”

“Could I – Could I ask Kagari to help me with tracking it? I-I-I don’t want to go to Chubu-chiho alone…”

“No problem, Hinakawa. Thanks for this.”

“You’re w-wel-welcome.”

His next call was placed to his long-suffering best friend. “Is this Sasayama?” Kougami wasted no time. Since he’d called the house phone, it could likely be Tohko.

“Yes, your friend, Sasayama Mitsuru, greatest failure in life, speakin’,” Sasayama’s tone was completely neutral. “What can I do for you, bud?”

“For starters, don’t call me bud. Ever,” Kougami rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics, not bothering to address how he answered the phone. No wonder he couldn’t hold down a permanent job. “What’s this about you bribing Kagari to do your job for you? You’re kind of cheating the only job you’ve managed to hold onto for longer than four months.”

“It’s not _cheatin’_ , Kou, it’s called _bein’ resourceful._ ” Sasayama sniffed, as if trying to prove a point. “And hey, hey, hey! I’ve been at my current job for seven months.”

“I’ve been at mine for five years.”

“Well, you’re borin’,” Sasayama huffed.

“Also, I’m coming round to yours later. And we’re drinking. I need a bottle of vodka. Or twenty.”  

“Noice,” he could almost sense the thumbs up Sasayama was pulling. “How come? You never want to drink with this old man!”

“I fell out with Gino, big time,” he said. “I’d rather talk about in person, to be honest, Sasayama.”

“Aight, aight,” Sasayama sighed. “Did you fuck things up? That sounds like somethin’ you’d do.” In the background there was a loud snort, which he could assume came from Tohko.

“Wow, I’m feeling better already,” Kougami allowed the sarcasm to drip off his tongue. “Hell, ‘there, there’ would have been better.”

“I don’t sugar coat shit, you should know that. Do I look like fuckin’ Willy Wonka to you?”

***

Once they reached Ginoza’s apartment, Akane and Ginoza sat in the driveway for a bit, not entirely sure on what to say. “Do you…” Ginoza was the first to speak, and felt a bit awkward about the scenario back at Hinohara. “Do you want to come in for a drink?”

“I suppose so,” Akane killed the engine. “If you wouldn’t mind having me.”

“Of course,” he nodded civilly at her before getting out the car, taking care to collect his jacket and the silver gun. It was probably best he hid it well on his person when he went out – it wouldn’t bode well for a police officer to carry a gun when he was off duty, nor did he feel like explaining the circumstances. Ginoza wasn’t an idiot – he knew the Ginoza that had left the apartment this morning wasn’t the same man entering, but he’d be damned if he let something like this change him. All he needed was a bit of time. Wasn’t that always said to heal any wound? “I… feel like I need to talk to you. I don’t know where to go from here.”

“That’s alright,” she smiled as he opened the door (did Kou not lock it behind him? Anybody could have walked in!) and let her inside. “I think everyone feels lost at some point.” She hung the coat up, or at least tried to, but Ginoza had to do it for her, considering she was so damn short, but she brushed this aside. “I think people who have just recovered from twenty years of amnesia to find they have a lot of… supernatural issues on their plate.”

She marched purposefully past him, and squealed in delight as Dime bounded over – he loved new people, which was ironic considering Ginoza was his owner. Akane ran her hands over his fur and giggled at his expression. “He’s so cute!” she told Ginoza. “If you’re not careful, I’ll end up taking him home with me.”

“Somehow, Dime wouldn’t mind that,” Ginoza knelt next to his dog. “We’ve been abandoning you lately, huh?” After that, he moved on to the kitchen to make Akane tea – she didn’t strike him as a coffee person, and she joined him a little later, a happy puppy on her heels. “He seems to like you.”

“What can I say? When you’re a wolf, dogs flock to you like a long lost parent. Oh, thank you!” she accepted the drink. “Have you got any sugar?” He obliged, and slid it over to her. “Thanks, Gino.” Then, she faltered. “I mean, Ginoza!”

“Gino is just fine,” he waved her down. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time,” he burst into conversation, recalling last night’s vision. “I… saw some people last night. Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa. They’re in Nagoya, and if we don’t do anything, they’ll die.”

“I… I could go and save them, if there’s time,” she looked at him. “But… Nagoya’s a pretty big place. You’re going to have to be a little more specific…”

“No problem. They’re staying in the Route-Inn Oogaki. Torii leaves at eight o’clock tomorrow night, calls Amari at roughly midnight and is not heard from again. Amari then heads out at eight o’clock the next night and goes to a village called Sakahogi roughly two hours later, where she sees a crying girl, who she follows. The girl vanishes, and Amari finds herself underground. She hears someone following her singing a messed up version of _Kagome Kagome_ , and eventually comes to a room where the Okami are being stored. Then she’s attacked and is knocked unconscious, where I suspect she later dies. I didn’t get that far.”

Akane was quickly typing this on her phone, it seemed. “The crying girl, tell me about her. Did she pick up a scent?”

“No, her guard was down. The girl had black hair… it was long, and that’s as much as I know.”

“Thanks, Ginoza. You stay here and rest. You’ve had one hell of a day,” she began to sip the tea which scalded her tongue.

“What about Kougami?” he addressed the elephant in the room. “I… I don’t know where I stand with him.” Suddenly, he felt a hand rubbing his hair, like an elder sister with her kid brother, and looked up to see Akane’s eyes, as soft as fur, gazing up at him.

“You’ll figure it out,” her voice seemed to ease the turmoil in his mind. “Once you have feelings for someone, they’ll always be there. Sure, you may be mad at them, but you still care, right?” she retracted her hand back to her mug. “I know you. As much as you’d like to pretend, you can’t throw things away that easily. He means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

“You seem to know me too well,” Ginoza smiled into his own beverage. “It’s kind of unnerving and kind of brilliant at the same time. I bet Kou knows this too, but…” he put his cup down with extreme heavy-handedness. “He killed your parents! How can you forgive him?”

“Getting revenge won’t bring them back, Ginoza,” she sighed, like world was pressing on her mind. “I learned that when this whole mess began that I can’t bring back the dead. Someone out there can, but not me. Besides, I don’t want them to see me like this.” She paused to drink and continued: “So, I don’t blame him for what happened back then. I learned later he’d been forced to kill his parents. I’m not condoning his actions, but… there’s a part of me who can only look back and say _I’m glad that I didn’t have to kill them. I’m glad Kougami did it for me._ That’s horrible, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s a natural thing.” If she was trying to console him, then he’d extend her the same courtesy. “But still. Kougami’s a murderer. I can’t just pretend that never happened. He attacked me too out of pure selfishness-“

“Gino,” her voice was kind, but not without an edge. “Kougami lied to you about that, correct? When a person lies, the content of the lie doesn’t exactly matter. No, what you should care about is the reason. The _why_. It’s been twenty years since that day. So why do you think Kougami lied?”

“He’s ashamed of it,” Ginoza attempted, to which Akane nodded.

“He regrets it. Again, it doesn’t undo what was done, but… I think he was trying to correct things, if only slightly,” she stretched, and he heard something crack in her shoulder. “Even though he didn’t know who you really were, I think you reminded him a little bit of that childhood friend he ended up hurting. So he has been trying to repent, but it probably doesn’t mean a lot.”

“Even so-”

“It’s just food for thought,” she interrupted him. “You’ll need him as well, if not a friend, then as an ally. If you’ve lost the support of the alpha, then you’ve lost the support of your people, too.”

“I haven’t lost Kougami!” Ginoza protested strongly, before faltering. Had he? He had known that during the Hinoharan tragedy, Kougami had slaughtered his own father in self-defence, but since he didn’t really experience it, maybe he’d just been averting his eyes from it. The truth was often ugly, which was why people, by nature, looked away from it.

“That’s my point exactly,” Akane smiled. “Don’t you remember what I told you when we first met?”

“It would be impossible to forget,” he recalled how vacant her eyes had looked.

“The second storm is on its way, Ginoza. You know what I mean by that, don’t you?” At Akane’s question, he nodded slowly. From the beginning of wolves as a whole, predictions written by the first Okami had prophesized of a storm striking the supernatural society, which would ultimately be changed, but for the better or worse was up to those involved. Ginoza had suspicions that the road they were heading down would result in the worse. “Well, to be honest, if you want my opinion, I think that the past twenty years have been part of the first storm, and so’s this. But if you remember what I said, you know I told you that the winds of this storm are going to separate you and Kougami.”

“I thought I would have a little more time, Akane. Nothing’s really happened yet,” he said. “I didn’t think that our bodies were that light.”

“They’re not,” Akane smiled up at him.

“Does this mean that our hearts are still together?”

“You should already know that.”

“I don’t know,” he amended her. “Wait, if you can make predictions, does that mean you’re an Okami too?” At this suggestion, she burst out laughing.

“No, all I did was repeat something you told me ages ago with a little bit of theatrics,” she winked at him and poked out her tongue. “Got you!”

“Tell me something,” he snapped back, another train of thought hit him, “Your grandmother was a shrine leader. Did she ever tell you about the first Okami?”

“Only every day!” she spluttered. “I always used to find them boring as a kid, which is a shame, because I find kind of cool now. Oh, well. But yes, she did.”

“He could predict the future too – were his predictions unchangeable?”

“The first Okami’s predictions were set in stone – no matter what steps one took, fate could not be avoided. But I know for a fact that the ones you make can be altered. You’ve done it before, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I have? Sorry, I’m still a little…” he indicated to his skull, not sure what the right word would be for this situation. “Out of it.”

“Well, when we were kids you apparently had a prediction where I’d drown in the river and die – at that point, nobody knew what you powers were, so nobody believed you, and called it a bad dream. Sure enough, I was playing with you and Shin- Kougami, and I fell in. Kougami was at the side trying to pull me in from there, but you knew if he carried on doing that, I’d die. So you jumped in and got me. Thank you for that.”

“I don’t remember that,” he told her honestly.

“In your defence, you were six,” she shrugged. “But even so, a kid managed to change the future in a huge way without realising it. If I’d died back then, then… I guess that you’d never have reason to be in that village, my parents would have nobody to attack, and Tougane would have killed you in the underpass.”

“Then I’m glad it can be changed,” Ginoza looked at the younger woman. “I’m glad you’re here, Akane.”

“Me too,” she joked lightly. “Whilst I’m alright giving you some friendly advice here and there, I can’t exactly fix your personal problems. That’s up to you. So I’ll ask you: are you going to find it in you to trust Kougami again?”

“I never really did stop trusting him,” Ginoza commented, and Akane’s face split into a happy smile before she drained her mug. “But I’ll need time to collect my thoughts. Then me and Kou will find each other again.”

“Ginoza, will you be alright by yourself?” Akane looked at her companion. “I need to head out to catch the women you described. Like you said, we need to change fate where we can.”

“I’ll be fine by myself, Akane,” Ginoza assured her as she trotted to the door, Dime following her the entire way there.

“Oh, almost forgot!” she delved around in her pockets and produced a grubby piece of scrap paper. “My emergency phone number.”

“So your cell?”

“Hmm… not quite.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Absolutely not.” With that, she left with a little wave of her fingers.   

***

Kirino Tohko decided she hated the alpha as well Sasayama; they were essentially the same person in different, loud, boozed-up bodies. “There’s… no way in hell! That Gino is the Okami! He’s a… uhhhh… dork!” Sasayama slurred. _Weakling_ , she glowered at him. _Oh, she was going to give him hell when he was sober._

“I know!” Kougami wasn’t as inebriated as his dutiful drinking-partner, but he was slowly getting there. “You know what I think! It’s that Akane bitch!”

“Yeaaaahhh,” Sasayama agreed, grabbing another can from the fridge. _I should probably stop him_ , Tohko thought from her position on the kitchen table, before shaking his head. _No. Let him suffer. He brought this upon himself_. “But didn’t she like… kick yer ass? That’s jus’ funny.”

“Shut up,” Kougami put his head in his hands. “She’s like three foot seven how the hell can she lift up a fucking six foot man?”

“You idiot…!” Sasayama guffawed. “Ask Tohko over there! Women are made of pain!”

“Don’t bring me into your drunken woes, imbeciles,” Tohko snapped at him from behind her book. In all honesty, she’d stopped reading it properly a while ago and had been listening into their drunken chatter. _Loudmouths. If they did this in public, Ginoza could be put in danger_. Around her book’s hard cover, her grip tightened in a spurt of anger, and shook her head. No point dragging the past up now. It rarely had anything new to show.

“Right, right,” Sasayama waved his hand to shut her up, and she scowled at the cigarette poking out of his mouth. The man himself turned to his friend. “What I dun’t get is why you’re so _cuddup_ about it. I mean, like… plenty o’ fish in the sea. What was so great ‘bout Gino anyways? He always seemed like he had somefin’ up his ass.” Then he sniggered, loudly. “I guess that now you’re here, somefin’ really was up his-“The fist slammed into the top of his head. “That was mean, Kou.”

“What are you, seven?” Tohko sighed heavily.

“I wish. Wun’t have so many creases in my face and what have ya,” Sasayama shrugged off.

“What’s with this ridiculous heavy-drinking, anyway?”

“Alcohol is now my best and only friend. I don’t abandon friends,” Kougami answered.

“What about Sasayama?” Tohko nodded at her sleazebag guardian. “Doesn’t he count?

“He’s Sasayama,” Kou pointed out.

“Excellent point,” Tohko assented and went back to ‘reading’.

“Anyways. Kou, Kou, Kou, bud. I mean pal. What was so great ‘bout Gino-sensei? Not sayin’ he’s a bad person, but out of me and Gino, I’d definitely bang myself.” Sasayama broke up the conversation between the other two inhabitants of the house.

“You’re the only person who would,” Tohko commented darkly, but it was ignored. “Everyone else would use a gun.”

Kougami seemed to be in deep in thought about Sasayama’s question, but finally, after Sasayama had drained another can of beer and moved onto the slightly weaker lager, he answered. “He was pretty.”

“Well, shit, that’s it?!” Sasayama snorted. “I was kinda expectin’ somethin’ better than that from you, of all the people! Hell, I can say Tohko’s pretty but that dun’t mean I wanna bang her!”

“Please, never, ever, again, use my name and the notion of you having sex with things in the same sentence. I feel sick.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant,” Kougami sighed. “I don’t think with my dick like you.”

“Uhhh-huuuh.” His tone was disbelieving.

“No, what I mean is, when he was sleepy at his desk at work and he rested his cheeks on his hands, he was pretty. And when he was watering the plants on the balcony outside our apartment, he looked so happy and he was pretty. And even when his first dog, Ron, died and he cried so hard I didn’t think he could stop he was pretty then, too. And when I managed to make him laugh so hard he’d have tears rolling down his face and he’d be clutching onto his sides, he was beautiful.”

The two other inhabitants looked at each other in what an onlooker could mistake in an almost understanding look. It was not. Tohko had never been aware that the alpha could even have feelings, especially not one like that; for the first time, she was beginning to get a good grasp on what love felt like, since she’d never really experienced it before. Her mother always told her to find a boy that treated her right and fall in love with him, which often lead to Tohko believing that anyone who was nice to her loved her to the extent it nearly killed her. Fortunately, Sasayama had arrived and snapped her out of her childish idiocy.

Sasayama, on the other hand, was staring at his alpha in what could only be described as a blank expression… until finally, he spoke. “That was so gay.” Tohko and Kougami stared at him in disbelief. “What? I mean, c’mon, you’re puttin’ me to shame.” After that, he took another swig of lager as Kougami and Tohko glared at him for ruining what could have been a deep meaningful conversation. “Sayin’ that, hearin’ you talk about it… sure, it ain’t really explainin’ anythin’… but yeahh, I think I’m just startin’ to geddit. So, if this means I lot to you, I’m gunna help you. Like you said, you wanted revenge on that mullet-ass guy. Your shit is my shit. Le’s do it!”

“Not right now, dumbass!” Kougami protested.

“Obviously, shit-for-brains,” Sasayama guffawed. “But whatever. I’m jealous o’ ya since you got someone you care about. So if you’re doin’t, then so’m I.”

“Shit. You mean it?”

“Yeahhh,” Sasayama nodded. “’m pro’ly gonna regret it tomorrow but what the hell.” He punched Kougami’s shoulder in a friendly gesture and finished his can again. However, their light and easy mood was juxtaposing the worry and fear playing in Kirino’s mind behind them. Not only because of Sasayama’s promises of throwing himself in danger, but because a strange scent – no, two strange scents – had just entered her nostrils.

“Hey, can you two smell that?”

“Sasayama’s beer breath? You bet,” Kougami sniggered, but halted at Tohko’s expression. “Kirino, what’s up?” Then, the smell wafted to his nose, and he stood up, knocking his beer over. “Hey, Sasayama, get a whiff of that.”

“Am I detectin’ a cheeky bit of Nagoyan?” Sasayama grinned, still drunk. And then, as if someone had poured ice down his pants, his face twisted into a mask of that universal emotion, which all could understand simply as ‘oh shit’. “That’s Nagoyan,” he said, and then, “that’s Chubu. What the fuck are they doin’ he-”

Before Sasayama had chance to even finish that sentence or properly sober up before the living room window blasted inwards, shards of glass scattering over the floor and slicing the arms braced in front of faces; the gust of energy that followed almost instantly knocked everything over in sight, including the men themselves. “Shit, we’re being targeted,” Kougami coughed, wafting dust away from his face. “But that was a dirty trick.”

“Yeah, well, there isn’t really a bro code for wolves,” Sasayama hacked whatever random shit he’d inhaled and looked over at Tohko. “It’s not like there’s a rule saying ‘Thou shalt not use bombs’. Oi, Kirino? You alive?”

“A+ first aid,” she called over weakly.

“Get up, bitch, you’re fine,” he shook his head. “Go into my room-“

“I’d rather not go into your depression crevice-“

“Ha-ha, very funny. You’ll find an anti-werewolf gun under my bed. Get it, hole up in your room – and if anyone comes in, shoot ‘em.”

“Wolves can’t touch silver!”

“Ain’t it lucky you’re a halfie?” he winked at her and she rolled her eyes, but she got up all the same and scampered off.

“Well, if you die, don’t come crying to me about it!” she called over her shoulder.

“I’m really hopin’ that works…” he admitted to Kougami, but the latter was staring into the distance, eyes narrowed, and eventually the second wolf looked too and flinched back. “Aye, who’ve we got here?”

The werewolf emerged from the dust in human force, grinning wickedly. “Tougane Sakuya. Pleasure’s all yours.” He smiled at his own thoughts which neither Kougami nor Mitsuru could read. “And it’ll be all mine when I kill you.”

***

Not for the first, nor for the last time, Ginoza was having a bad dream, but unlike his others, the details weren’t there, and it was all hazy, switching too fast, which meant there were too many ways the scenario could play out, so it was impossible to fully comprehend it. Still half-asleep, he reached out, seeking the normal warmth that was always there, but found the bed strangely empty, and curled in on himself.

“Kougami…” he mumbled. “Why is your absence enough to make me feel so alone?”

Then he fell back among the murky fragments of chaos that seemed to jump from one timeline to the next with reckless abandon, but eventually, he managed to piece things together from only a few fragments, which he clung to with all his might. From what he gathered, something was burning, but what it was or what had caused it was unknown to him – however, he managed to work out that Kougami was there, as well as Sasayama and seemed to be running _away_ from someone; that didn’t sound like them – from what he knew, the two of them were always game for a bit of a tousle. The person they were running from was approaching, but he didn’t see their face.

And that’s when things got complicated and too many timelines overlapped. He had to struggle through them as if it were a choppy sea to the conclusion.

Then he saw it, as if he was standing right over the edge of the cliff, and the thing that was burning was… a bridge. The irony of burning bridges wasn’t lost on Ginoza, but he didn’t have time for personal thoughts as he witnessed the event about to unfold. The bridge itself, thanks to the fire’s destructive force, caved in on itself as Sasayama and Kougami and the attacker sprinted across it, and it seemed as though the two Kanto wolves were safe, but in a cruel twist of fate, the other wolf – there was no doubt he was an enemy wolf – grabbed Kougami by the hair and threw him back onto the bridge as he stepped off of it… and as the bridge fell in. Sasayama leapt forward to catch Kougami, but it was no good, and Kougami’s grey eyes seemed to look up at Ginoza for a brief moment if only to grin and vanish from view like a stone.

Ginoza shot from the bed like it was on fire and felt fortunate that for once in his life he hadn’t bothered getting changed and was out of the door before Dime could even lift his head to see what was worrying his master.

Akane. He should call her. But no, that wouldn’t work, since she’d gone into enemy territory so calling her would endanger her. Not only that, there was no way she could reach him in time. The bridge. Sasayama.

A bridge near Sasayama’s place. A flammable brigde. Oh, that could be anything! Kuromegawa. That was it. Kuromegawa! In his half-asleep state, anything seemed moderately exciting. But he had to get there, and he had to get there fast.

Akane even said it herself. Their bodies weren’t this light to be blown away by a pathetic breeze like this.

***

“I can’t believe I’ve been reduced to this,” Sasayama yelled over at Kougami. “I sure hope they haven’t torched my fuckin’ house or I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you!”

Following Sasayama’s plan, they’d decided to escape being blown to shit by taking the bridge that was only about a ten minute walk – or five minute sprint for your life – from the remainders of his house, where Tohko had managed to quell the flames as Shinya and Mitsuru tackled the enemy, before holing in her room with the silver gun only she could hold.

“This is hardly my fault!” Kougami snapped back.

“We’re fuckin’ runnin’ away, Kou!” Sasayama protested. “You’re makin’ me do fuckin’ exercise at fuckin’ eleven o’clock!”

“Well, we could go ahead and fight him, but if you hadn’t already noticed, he has fucking explosives!” Kougami argued. “I am really not in the mood to have this argument with you!”

“We can’t just run our asses away like a pair of bitches!”

“Our other option,” Kougami paused to run around the corner. “Is to probably follow the usual procedure when you get hit by a grenade.”

“What’s that?” Sasayama frowned.

“Well, you jump up about 200 feet into the air and scatter yourself over a large area.”

“This is no time for your fuckin’ lame ass jokes!” Finally, the bridge was in sight, and waiting on it for them was Tougane Sakuya.

“Sasayama, what the hell?!” Kougami spat at his partner. “You said you knew a way to throw him off our trail!”

“I did, and it didn’t work!” Sasayama halted. “I may or may not have taken us the long way around.”

“You… absolute-“

“Look, we can try and get past him and to the other side.”

“You want us… _to outrun a fucking bomb_?!”

“That is the gist of it, yeah,” Sasayama grinned up devilishly at him. “Last one to make it across is a wuss!” With that, he charged towards the bridge, and Kougami had no choice but to chase after him – knowing Sasayama, he’d likely run into a grenade rather than around it.

As they approached, Tougane simply smiled to himself. Sure, he couldn’t defeat that bitch from a few days ago, but that was because she’d outsmarted him, but these two, especially the brunette, were idiots. Their own stupidity would be the cause of their deaths. Before he saw them enter the bridge, he heard the rattling of their footsteps on the wooden slats. “Showtime, boys,” he grinned to himself, and prepared to throw the final grenade in his hand.

Kougami Shinya anticipated it before he’d even thrown it, and yelled at Sasayama to pull back or run like his ass was on fire. Which it would probably be in less than a few minutes.

However, the grenade never hit its intended targets, since as Tougane pulled the pin, a second hand smacked it out of his own where it exploded just to the side of the bridge. It rocked dangerously, and all standing on it were thrown to their feet as what little the explosive had touched ignited. Through the flames, Kougami saw Tougane stood there, furious, as well as their saviour…

_Gino?!_

“Kanto’s Okami…” he grinned, but didn’t once look at Ginoza as he sped away from him, bringing out a blade. So there was honour among thieves, Kougami thought as Tougane aimed that blade for him, and brought the flat side of it down on his temple, making the alpha wolf stagger slightlt. However, a foot came out of the smoke again and tripped Tougane, giving Kougami a chance to orientate himself. Coupled with the amount of alcohol he’d been drinking, it really had very little effect, and his vision swam.

“Sasayama, get the fuck off of this goddamned bridge!” Gino ordered, eyes blazing. “I’ll look after Kougami!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Sasayama yelled behind him, pushing past Tougane who had stood up once more. Fortunately, the Nagoyan had no eyes for Kougami’s boozed-up best friend, and more for the pair still stood on the bridge, before releasing a barrage of attacks. Ginoza knew he couldn’t keep evading the sword and shielding Kougami at the same time, and felt it slide through the skin on his upper arms and just above his knee. But in a stroke of luck, Ginoza managed to lay a punch across Tougane’s jaw.

“Gino… that’s enough, Gino… don’t worry about m…” Kougami tried to speak up. _Shit, he shouldn’t have drank so much. Shit._

“I do worry!” he snapped at him, but the anger wasn’t directed at him. “I don’t want to be without you!”

“Don’t be stupid…”

“It’s not stupid!” He raised his fists as Tougane approached them again. “I love you! There’s nothing stupid about it.”

That was the first time Gino had ever told Kougami he loved him, and despite the situation being all wrong, Kougami allowed himself a smile, but it vanished as Ginoza and Tougane charged at each other. The wolf had more muscle than the Okami and easily knocked him to the floor. “Goodbye, sairou!” he smiled like an old friend down at Ginoza, and raised the sword. Closing his eyes, Ginoza prepared for the blow… which never came. Cracking an eye open, he saw why.

“Fuck you, asshole!” Sasayama was cursing, gripping the sword in both his hands, letting it slice his fingers – but he didn’t seem to particularly care. Ginoza took this opportunity to get to his feet as Sasayama wrestled the weapon away from him and threw it over the edge. “I’m gonna fuckin’ tear you to pieces!”

“Oh, really now?” Tougane grinned. “Catch up to me, _sa-i-ro-u_.” And with that, he promptly fled the scene.

“Sasayama, leave it. He’s baiting us into another trap!” Ginoza warned the other wolf. “We have to get Kougami and ourselves off this bridge!” As if right on cue, the bridge rocked dangerously again.

“Well, would you look at that…” Sasayama commented, nodding towards the chunks of bridge floating in the river. “That’s probably not good.”

Throwing Kougami over his shoulder, Ginoza began to doggedly make his way to the opposite side to Tougane, but was moving far too slowly – Sasayama easily overtook them. Another vicious shock didn’t help matters any, but eventually, Ginoza had just about reached the other side when –

The floor gave way beneath his feet and Kougami slid out from underneath him. In desperation, he leapt towards the firm ground before realising his error. “Kougami!” he turned around and tried to grab on. He’d been an idiot. He’d been an idiot. He’d been an idiot.

Kougami Shinya felt weightless, almost, and the surroundings almost surreal, too bright for his liking, and all noises seeming muffled by a thick wall. But what he did see clearly as anything was Ginoza’s face approaching him and his hand outstretched, and naturally, he reached his hand for Ginoza as well. He liked holding Ginoza’s hand.

A golden glint around Ginoza’s neck caught his attention and he blinked slowly. _Hey, Ginoza. If you panic like that, your mom’s pendant’s going to snap._

After that, he watched a single link on the chain break and saw it slip easily off Ginoza’s neck and sail past his face. _Idiot… if you don’t want to lose it, you have to hold on to what’s important to you._

Blessedly, Ginoza managed to grip onto Kougami’s wrist, clinging to it so hard he dug his nails in. “What are you doing, Kougami?!” Ginoza roared over the sounds of bridge chunks falling in the river below. “Climb up, you absolute dickwad!”

“Gino..za?” Kougami’s unfocused eyes were slowly beginning to focus, and his mind was just now clearing. “Doesn’t your hand hurt..? It’s all… red…”

“Shut the fuck up and get ahold of yourself!” Ginoza snapped. “Like that’s important right now!” He tugged again. “If you give up here, then that’s it! We won’t see each other again, Kougami!” In an almost childish desperation, tears pooled in his eyes and his voice wobbled dangerously. “This isn’t where we’re supposed to part ways!”

Kougami seemed to be brought of his funk and he smiled in dazed relief. “You’re right. This isn’t where we part ways. Not here… Not here…” he raised a shaking hand to grab onto the earth and tug himself up with the combined efforts of Ginoza and Sasayama.

Once he was laid on flat earth again, Ginoza outstretched his hand to Kougami. “Let’s go home, Kougami.”


	11. What Happens to Those who Underestimate Women

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Tougane and Kirino?

Shimotsuki Mika peeked out from behind a tree that she’d been watching the scene from, and gripped the weapon her mentor had bestowed on her when they first met. Ever since that day, she’d never let it go, and sought comfort in it in trying times. It was a silver dagger, and it would have normally burned her skin, but the handle had been wrapped with material that blocked silver’s harmful effect. As Tougane fled, she crouched down, not wanting him to see her; she had been ordered to kill Tougane by any means necessary, but not before she got answers out of him.

Mika shuddered, trying to alter her mindset so she thought the shivers were from excitement and not fear. There was no doubt about it that Tougane was involved, and he was no longer allowed to play the game of war for any longer. The less manpower their opponents had, the better. Though she hadn’t pointed it out, she knew her leader was impartial to Ginoza, and the attack in the underpass hadn’t been taken well at all. Well, everyone had to pay the price for doing wrongdoings, and it wasn’t her place to question them, just carry them out.

Still, over the phone, the leader and Akane had conversed in a rather civil fashion, and finally, Akane admitted, that as much as she hated taking the life of another (precisely why she’d spared him), it would have to be done. Mika never understood that – it was the position of a wolf to question the decisions of an Okami. However, the leader only smiled softly at that, and said that people with a bit more spirit generally got further in life.

Fortunately for her, Tougane was walking with his back to her, so that left her with two options – either follow him, or cut him off. In this situation, cutting him off would be beneficial, since if she walked behind him, it was more likely he’d see her. The road he was travelling down was a side alley leading to relatively abandoned streets, so she began to run down another street, trying to beat him to it.

 _Finding a hovel to curl up and die in, Tougane?_ She scowled at nothing in particular.

How far had she come? One hundred metres? Two hundred metres? During her academy days, she had been the star short-distance runner for her school, Oso Academy, and was the best in the prefectural team (though none of those silly humans needed to know she relied heavily on her werewolf’s strengths), and had gained an innate sense for that distance, but the shadows – as well as the pressure placed on her for what was essentially a planned assassination – had limited this ability slightly. So now she sprinted, using those prized track-runner legs; moving purely on instinct, she ran along the road, glad that she wore flats for once, her only thought being a place in order to hide and ambush Tougane.

However, Tougane moved faster than she gave him credit for, so she had to fall back on her back-up plan as a young woman finishing a day of work, even fiddling with her phone for effect as he strode behind her. …Were his footsteps easing off? Using her phone as a mirror, she checked behind her. His hairstyle was as stupid as she remembered it.

 _I can’t surprise him like this. This is trouble. Saying that, boys are always trouble._ This thought was held without particular basis, but she’d always felt that way about a boy indiscriminately; well, that’s what she’d been taught from a young age in her all-girl’s school. She resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose up in contempt for her academy, where they mindlessly indoctrinated young girls into believing their sole purpose was to get married and please men. Suppressing a half-smile, she knew that that the Chubu-based academy would have failed her if they knew what she was doing: not doing anything they considered wholesome hobbies for women (most of which bored Mika to death, and she knew most of her classmates weren’t inclined towards the recommended list, but some of them weren’t that bad), and she was walking the streets at night like what they called _girls of that sort_ and planning to kill a man. _I love my life._

“Hey,” Tougane spoke up, distracted her from thoughts of the past. She ignored him and considerably sped up _. I’ll probably stab him in his sleep or something, but I’d rather get it done now. I don’t want to pull another all-nighter_. “Wait. Hey.”

For a few seconds, Mika weighed up the pros and cons of her options before ultimately deciding to face him, trying to disguise the trembling in her legs. It was excitement, exhilaration – and definitely not fear. After some deliberation she figured he didn’t have a gun, since if he meant to kill her before she did the same to him, he would have shot her in the spine. Automatically, she glanced around to check if nobody was around – it would hardly bode well for her, and she didn’t fancy another few years of hiding underground until people forgot her name… or until her name was wiped off several wanted lists by semi-illegal methods. Whatever.

However, as he approached her (but left about five or six metres between them) she noticed that he was holding a Glock 43 in his right hand, but it had been attempted to have been hidden, but she was more observant than most really gave her credit for. It was aimed away from her and more at his feet. _Was stopping a mistake?_

 _No, it couldn’t have been,_ she told herself. Tougane Sakuya, she knew, was one of the leaders of the Chubu region, and had years of rigorous training under his belt. As did Mika, but he simply had more of them, and even if she had been the fastest girl in the Aichi ward, he could have outrun her. Especially if he wolfed out. Not only that, she’d spent half an hour wasting various of her perfumes trying to mask her smell, so he had no idea what her identity was. Either way, too late now.

Tougane Sakuya was tall and solidly built with broad shoulders. His hair, which had been styled into something verging on the ridiculous, but aside from that, he had a relatively plain face which now wore an ambiguous smile. _Oh, what does this jerk want?_

Even though Tougane had no way of knowing that the hooded woman standing before him was someone he’d met before, and someone who had hated him for years on end, Shimotsuki Mika had remembered. The creep who came for an ‘inspection’ around her academy to check the facilities… and its students. Shimotsuki Mika hated, _hated_ , **_hated_** this old man, the floor he stood on, the air he breathed, the smell that lingered on his clothes.

So she had to choose her words carefully, needing to evade Tougane as quickly as possible. “Don’t shout,” she giggled, pretending to be an openly trusting girl. “People could be sleeping.”

“You’re right. I apologise,” he said stiffly, that gleam in his eyes. “I only called your attention since I worry about young women unguarded on the streets at night. There’s been… terrible murders,” he pretended to shiver, and she pretended to be taken aback. “I was wondering if you’d let me escort you to a main street where people can see you. I live near here, so it’s no bother, really.”

“No, you’re alright,” she politely declined, keeping up that appearance. “I’m meeting my boyfriend…”

_Urgh, as if._

“…and he might get jealous if he sees me with another man. I don’t want to anger him, so you go on home now.” She began to walk again, until she heard the click of the gun. _Shit. So, that didn’t work. Now what?_ Dropping all pretences, she scowled at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Well, to put it bluntly,” he dropped the smile. “I’ve had a long, stressful day and need something to unwind. Sorry.” As if the fucking apology mattered – he was trying to put himself in a position of power over her, and she was having none of it. “So you’ll be staying with me, understood?”

Now that pissed her off, and what angered her even more was the unidentifiable gumminess in his gaze that gave her the creeps, and answered as calmly as she could. If the gun wasn’t silver, and the bullets weren’t silver, she could most likely survive a bullet wound… if it didn’t hit her heart or brain, obviously. “You’re joking. No way am I sticking with a pervert like you when you’re pointing a fucking gun at me.”

“Are you going to run?” She didn’t move, tamping down the comment at the tip of her tongue: _I’m going to rip your fucking throat out first!_ When he saw that she wasn’t fighting him yet – since he believed her human, he must have thought that it would be all part of the fun – he lowered the gun. _Soon. Soon I’ll be stabbing that cold dead thing inside your chest you call a heart, asshole_. “You know, you’re quite attractive.” Again, another comment sprung to her tongue, but that would give the game away.

“What of it?” she scowled.

“It means I’m not going to kill you. It’s a shame to waste such a pretty face.”

“I’m not interested,” she began to quickly stalk away again, but without hesitation this time, he raised his weapon. Fuck. A dagger would have no chance against a gun. Tougane’s expression was that of a child’s at a toy store – _Mom, I want this, I want this._ “Don’t do this,” she said, a quiet warning in her voice.

“Then come here.”

“I told you already, I don’t want to,” she frowned. “Does the word ‘no’ not register with you, spoilt brat?”

“I’m only going to protect you, look after you for a while.”

“Yes, whilst pointing a gun at me,” she huffed. “I don’t trust you for one second, letch.” She started shuffling back, but his voice cut across the silence.

“Move, and I’ll shoot.” By vocalising the threat, Tougane stepped free from the last shackle that held him within the bounds of reasoning (as far as the bounds had been pushed already, that was. Keeping the weapon aimed at her, he spoke again, disgusting her further, a thing she hadn’t thought possible, but men were filled with bad surprises. “Know your place, girl. Women should listen to what men tell them.” When she said nothing – since the anger was rampant in her mind – he smirked, thinking he’d won. He hadn’t. Then, he asked another disgusting question like it was the most casual thing in the world. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you? I can tell.”

_Did I hear this idiot right?!_

“And you think that’s any of your business?”

“Sure.”

She glared back at him with all the contempt she could muster. _Yes, Tougane-sensei, you’re absolutely right, sir. I am indeed a virgin, sir. A nineteen-year-old blushing virgin, sensei. But what the fuck kind of business is that of yours, asshole?!_

“You see, I’m going to be killed fairly soon,” he seemed very blasé about this, “because I’m a bad person…”

_No fucking shit, Sherlock!_

“And you’re going to die soon anyway – sorry about lying to you, by the way – and well, don’t you want to do it before you die? I’d make for a decent partner.”

Though driven to the utmost extreme of rage, for a moment she simply stared at him, dumbstruck; perhaps her mouth hung open in shock or contempt. If disgust was a physical entity, an area around her, it would have extended halfway across the globe. Mika dropped her eyes to her feet. Then, without thinking, a small laugh escaped from her lips that one could accidentally mishear as a sob. This was ridiculous – no, it was the smash hit comedy of the year ridiculous. Finally, she raised her head in defiance. Despite her fury, she was giving him one last chance to extend his lifespan by at least a few hours. “This is the last time that I’ll say it. I don’t want to be with you. Be a good boy and put that gun down, and leave me alone. If you don’t, you’re going to have a bad time.”

Tougane didn’t lower the Glock; to the contrary, he raised it as high as his shoulders and threatened: “And this is the last time I’ll say this. Do what I tell you to, bitch.”

Maybe it was something about her innate personality as a whole, but she felt something of a rush as their exchange reached its crucial junction. Well, she couldn’t be held responsible for whatever happened next – creeps like him didn’t deserve to draw breath. Whatever it took, it was time to end this dumb conversation with this shithead. So she took once step forward. “I see. So you want to rape me, do you? That’s it, right? You think you can do whatever you damn well please just because some bad people are going to come and kill you.” She took another step forward, making her voice as threatening as she could; usually it was effective, but not as good as Akane’s or her boss’s. “You know, in a situation like this, you might want to worry more about your life than that flaccid micropenis in your pants.”

“You think I’m joking?!” His face had turned to crimson as his facial features twisted, and he exploded. “Do you want to get raped, you little whore? You think I’m fucking joking? I could kill you right now if I wanted to!” He sickened her beyond belief. “Since I’m going to die anyway, I decided to treat life like my own little game. I can do whatever the hell I want! Everyone’s going to die one day, and I intend to deserve it!”

 _Aha. So that’s the truth. So, with or without my consent, you were going to have your way with me and kill me so that you can survive._ “A game? Isn’t it a bit backward to go up against a girl?” If his misogyny was anything to go by, he thought any woman he saw was weak. Well, wasn’t it good that little Shimotsuki Mika was going to teach him how wrong he was?

For a brief moment, his cold eyes flashed in fury. “Are you asking to die?”

“Go ahead, try and shoot me.”

For a split second he hesitated. But that short period of time was crucial, and she threw her purse at his face. As he shielded himself from it, she began to run away from him, thinking she heard him cursing behind her. Good, she’d filled that purse with rocks, so it was considerably weighty. Suddenly, her right leg was blown forward, and she fell onto her face, grazing it on the asphalt. This facial injury pissed her off more than the bullet that had been fired at her. This asshole had ruined her fucking face!

“This is your fault, little bitch,” he dropped the gun by the side of her, thinking he’d won that easily. “You provoked me.”

“Please wait,” she feigned weakness, seeking an apt opportunity to strike, and she sat up, pretending to coddle her leg. She shuffled backwards, sniffling in mock fear.

“Give up. It’s no use.”

She pulled the knife out, and held it at him as she stood up, kicking the gun behind her. “You said your life was a game. Well, I’m your opponent. I won’t lose to a bastard like you.” She gripped it harder. “You want me? Come and get me. Every inch of me will resist you!” She paused at his dumb expression. “You understand me? Or are you that stupid?” His expression remained confident, thinking he could win over an injured girl barely out of high school. “Don’t even think about beating me half to death so you can do whatever the hell you want. Look, asshole, you should worry more about your life than your prick.”

Tougane’s face contorted, and he made as though he was going to sock her one across her injured cheek, but Mika stood her ground, dagger in hand. He was taller and heavier, and athlete or no, it was unlikely that she would win, but losing was not an option. Suddenly, he came forward, swinging his arm at her, and she took it with her left arm. Her favourite bracelet, which she always wore since it was a gift from a high school sweetheart, snapped off and sailed through the air. Tensions between them were thick. As his fist connected with her arm, a wave of numbness travelled up it and right to her brain. Undeterred by such a minor thing, she raised the ice pick as Tougane grimaced, and dodged backwards, metres between them. Her arm throbbed, but she was alright since he hadn’t broken anything.

Then, his second attack came, attempting to backhand her like he was playing a violent match of tennis. Mika ducked her head and twisted to the side in an attempt to evade the blow. Swiftly, she aimed the blade towards his extended wrist and felt it hit home as he grunted in pain. Again, they were apart, and despite the red strike across his arm, she knew he wasn’t too badly injured. But she bet it burned like a bitch. The gash on her own leg pounded, and felt blood swathing the area. Heal up already! She heard the sound of a panting breath before realising that it was her who was breathing heavily. Shit. That’s not good.

Once more, Tougane came swinging, and Mika worked out he was aiming for anywhere between the side of her head and her shoulder, and rashly stepped forward, recalling something her hand-to-hand combat teacher on the underground had taught her. _An attacked aimed at the wrong distance will lose most of its effect. Sometimes you must bravely step forward._

His wrist connected with her neck, and that hardly hurt so she lunged at his ribs with her own weapon and dragged it across the skin there, long and shallow. Tougane shoved her away with his burning hand, but her leg buckled and she fell on her back. Rubbing his injured chest, he looked at her in keen interest. “What kind of girl even are you?”

“Not one that simply sits back and lets a man tell her what to do,” she spat back, and rose to her feet. The second she’d started tottering, he rushed at her with a surprising degree of intensity, and with a metallic clang, she realised her blade, her only advantage, had been taken out. Mika bit her lip, and backed away from Tougane, who twisted his mouth into a grin and began approaching her again. _What a psychopath_ , Mika thought – _how could a misogynist think women were weak and attack them, knowing they couldn’t fight back and enjoy it, too? Where was the fun in that for someone like Tougane Sakuya?_

Again, he came for her, and with a crack, his knuckles impacted the left side of her skull, and automatically her body lurched. Warm liquid, undoubtedly blood, dripped from her nostril. She was about to drop, and Tougane’s expression was one of victory. Still swaying, Shimostuki Mika narrowed her eyes. As she fell, she thrust out her leg and kicked the outside of his knee as hard as she could, catching him off guard. Letting out a guttural moan, he dropped onto his knee and pivoted around it, turning his back to her. Had her thoughts been on retrieving her dagger, she would have lost. But that was not what Shimostuki Mika did.

She leapt onto Tougane’s back. As if riding a piggyback, she clamped her arms around his head, the sudden weight sending him toppling forward. In that instant, she had a crucial decision to make regarding her fingers. _My index and my middle finger? No, no, the thumb and middle finger are the strongest ones._ As a sign of self-respect, Mika had always taken very good care of her nails – she recalled a raven-haired woman giving her that advice long, long ago. No matter how much her teachers scolded her, not once had she cut them short.

Mounted atop Tougane’s back, Mika grabbed his ridiculous hair and forced his head back. Despite not being able to clearly see where to put her hands, she could make an educated guess. Instinctively, Tougane closed her eyes, sensing what she was about to do.

It was futile.

Mika’s right thumb and middle finger split through his clenched eyelids and into his eye, and if she wasn’t fighting for her life, she would have gagged.

Tougane screamed, getting up on his hands and knees, and attempted to claw at her arms. He thrashed her around, trying to shake her off, but she was sticking to him like a wet t-shirt. In another attempt to stop him, she pushed her fingers deeper into their second joints, before feeling something jolt beneath the skin of her fingertips, realising his eyeballs had popped. If anything about this came as a surprise to her, it was how shallow the human eye socket was. Unfazed, she curled her fingers inward. His blood, along with some viscous semitransparent liquid, made a disgusting, twisted form of tears that oozed from his eye holes.

Howling, Tougane rose to his feet, flailing his arms, scratching at Mika’s hand and pulling her hair out of its usual style. Automatically, Mika sprang free, and felt a bundle of hair come loose. Time to worry about clean up later.

She hunted for her dagger in the dark and found it quickly. Tougane roared as he fought an invisible foe (which he essentially was) before falling on his ass with a thud. His eyes were wide open, but blood red from the eyelid inwards. Dragging her leg behind her, Mika approached him, before lifting said leg above his unguarded groan and stomped on it with all her might. With a moan, Tougane’s hands moved to cover his crotch and curled into the fetal position.

Mika stepped on his throat to constrict his airways with her good leg and put her weight on it. Tougane reached up feebly to claw at it, his strength gone. “Hel…Help me…” he wheezed.

 _Fat chance,_ Mika thought, before realising that she was smiling. _I’m not angry any more – I’m even enjoying this. I really am. Well, so what? I never claimed to be the Buddha or Dalai Lama, so there’s no problem._

Gripping the silver blade by the handle, she knelt down as he whine pathetically before thrusting it into his mouth. His arms which had been trying to pry her off jerked and fell still by his sides. To make sure, she plunged it deeper, and it slit his throat with little to no resistance. Underneath her, Tougane convulsed like a backstroke swimmer doing a dolphin kick. His bloodied eyes remained open, surrounded by a spiderweb pattern drawn in the sticky poured-out paint that were his own bodily fluids.

At last, the pain in her leg surged, and she collapsed next to him, wheezing as though she’d run a marathon as the adrenaline rush died down. And finally, the sight of what she had done as she brought up what she’d eaten earlier. Hands shaking, she picked up her cell and called her leader.

“I’ve… done it…” she said between breaths. “Could you bring some petrol and a lighter please? My hair’s everywhere.” As soon as she heard confirmation, she ended the call, and looked at Tougane. “You want to know my motto, Tougane? Be polite, be professional, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet.”

***

Back at the Sasayama-Kirino residence, Tohko had carried out Sasayama’s requests and sat trembling in her closet; out of fear as another explosion rocked the house, and the voices of the two elder wolves vanished, she gripped the gun tighter to her chest, finger not once leaving the trigger. In a fight, every second counted, and she didn’t like wasting time in general. Stupid, moronic Sasayama, leaving her here alone! Like a little child, she was curled up behind her clothes which Sasayama had bought (most likely stolen) and hoped they’d be sufficient cover.

The smell of the Nagoyan wolf who named himself Tougane lingered still, but he was nowhere near the house now. But a second wolf had been there, and that second wolf was getting closer. And closer. And closer. Whimpering to herself, Tohko clutched the gun like it was a teddy bear, knowing she didn’t have the heart – or experience – to shoot someone. Well, the gun itself was made of silver, so if push came to shove, she’d have to hit them with it. Still, it wasn’t like she was physically strong.

For once in her life, Tohko was grateful that Sasayama’s laziness had prevented him from fixing the door which had shoddily been put up by the same guy. It stuck a lot and required a lot of jiggling about with the handle to open, and not only that, the hinges creaked. This was the only time she was ever grateful of Sasayama’s flaws… which was a shame, since he had a lot of them. The sound of quiet footsteps distracted her from her thoughts, and with trembling fingers, she gripped the gun, aimed at the door. Following the sounds of the footsteps were noises of someone rifling through her things, and Tohko halted any breaths she happened to be making. At this range, the wolf could most likely hear her breathing; fortunately, her scent was rampant in this room so disguised the smell of the cowering Tohko. A crash of her desk tipping over made her jump, and the tinkling of glass told her that in the process, her favourite vase had smashed.

This place is a shit-tip already. When this is over, I can go live with someone else. Someone else who is cleaner, more sober, doesn’t swear so much. Somebody who cares about my education and how I look. A parent. A proper guardian. She told herself over and over, trying to ground herself and give her a little bit of motivation to survive whatever came next, since she was just delaying the inevitable. This was a twisted game of hide-and-seek.

As the door began to tug open slightly, a brainwave struck Tohko. If she could surprise them – leap out and hit them with the gun – she may have an advantage over them, and they could be forced to surrender. As the door was only slightly ajar, she jumped out from behind her favourite dress – the one she wore to prom last year – and smacked the gun in the face of whoever was rummaging through her things. It slammed on the other person’s cheek and knocked them down. Cocking the gun, she aimed it at the other person with point blank range.

It was a girl, tall and rather slender, dressed in sailor fuku – sailor fuku Tohko recognized. Because she used to wear it, once. But she didn’t remember this girl, but she must have been around the same age as Tohko herself. Maybe she was a transfer student to replace Toko in that system. Couldn’t have gaps, after all. Besides, Tohko would remember a face like that, with amethyst eyes that seemed as though they could gaze into another dimension all together.

“Get the hell off of my property before I blast you so full of silver you’ll shit fine jewellery.”

At this, the girl simply chuckled, and looked up at Tohko, whose hazel eyes were flashing dangerously. “Being around Kanto wolves has changed you. However, we’re willing to forgive you if you return to us.”

“Forgive me for what? You people trying to kill me?” Tohko jabbed the gun threateningly at the other girls face. The girl smiled as if she was an old friend, and then suddenly, Tohko felt her leg give way beneath her – looking down, she saw that the girl had stabbed her in it. Not with silver, which was good. But still. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. And the blood flow was unbelievably fast. That wound really was deep. This girl knew what to do with a blade.

“No. We’ll overlook your sin of ever being born so long as you’re useful. After that, I’ll chop your pretty little head off and display it on my wall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ding-dong, the asshole's dead. Sorry about the amount of violence, and thanks for your comments, kudos and support. Or even reading this far. Thanks.


	12. Fools Investigate the Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're all in way over their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yay, back at last from a month hiatus! Yeah, I'm hoping to finish this, and I'm introducing some new characters. I will be tying this up, with everything eventually! But yeah, if you're confused about the thing at the end, just comment and I'll explain best I can.

Earlier that day, Amari Hina and her best friend had travelled to Nagoya, booked a room at the hotel before heading on their way to Sakahogi.

Unbeknownst to Akane and Ginoza, Kougami had called the wolves Ginoza had talked about – Torii Tsubasa and Amari Hina – and inadvertently changed the future, which didn’t bode all that well for them. The alpha had already given Torii a name – Sakuya Tougane – not to mention a location – Sakahogi, thanks to Shion’s in depth analysis - and suggested that it would be better for them to investigate during the day rather than at night, where he’d explained that was when Tougane preferred to strike.

None of the wolves, save Shimotsuki Mika and her mentor, knew that Tougane Sakuya’s ashes were now lost forever to the wind.

So instead of parting ways at their hotel room and arriving at the village nearly twenty-four hours apart, Amari Hina and Tsubasa Torii had arrived at the place they would inevitably be killed by some unknown killer.

The young woman laid on the dusty, dank floor was scared, though she didn’t know what of at that point. As far as she was concerned, she had fallen whilst she and Tsubasa had been investigating the village, which had evidently been abandoned. _It was creepy_ , she thought to herself, _it was really scary!_ _What if there are ghosts out there? Malicious ones? Evil ones?_

Not that she’d ever admit it to Tsubasa, but ever since her closest friend had written a short horror story surrounding ghosts, Hina had been deathly afraid of them.

Finally, breathing slowly, she forced herself to think calmly, like the characters in Tsubasa’s books did. Despite the general darkness, Hina could tell she was no longer strolling through the winter sunlight-covered village anymore. “Where am I?” she whispered aloud, trying to compensate for the overbearing silence. “Maybe this is part of the village…” she offered herself some rational explanation. “Maybe I fainted from my travel sickness, and Tsubasa put me in a house so I wouldn’t get cold.” Well, it hadn’t worked – she was still cold. She pulled her yellow duffel closer around her shaking frame in an attempt to warm up slightly.

After a minute or so, Hina shook her head at her previous suggestion – Tsubasa wouldn’t have gone far without Hina; they were a team, after all! “Tsubasa…? Tsubasa?” she called out tentatively. Why was it so dark? Why wasn’t Tsubasa answering back? She waited for several minutes, calling out for Torii periodically, but there was no response save for the deep, all-encompassing silence that clung to the atmosphere like smoke. Despite continuing to cry out for her friend, Amari knew that this was reality, and she had little choice but to accept it, no matter how hard she wished it wasn’t true. Using the advice Tsubasa gave her, she attempted to ground herself.

She could feel the floor. It was wooden and scratchy.

She could see the floor. It was very dirty.

She could hear the sound of her fingernails rubbing against the floor. It was very faint.

This strange habit strangely calmed her, most of the time. Looking further into the darkness, straining her eyes to do so, she saw that it couldn’t possibly be a house. Houses had rooms, windows, furniture, even when abandoned, and this place had none of this, and seemed more like a series of corridors. She was either inside a building or underground. “So… where am I? What happened…?”

“Circle you, circle you,

Stay with us and play forever.”

That voice sent shivers all the way down Amari’s spine; she was under the impression that the village of Sakahogi was abandoned – nobody should be around, and nobody should be singing Kagome, Kagome! A rather sensible bad feeling had entered her senses, and decided quickly that if she stayed in her current position, she’d really be done for. Deciding to follow her instincts, rather than something logical (which Tsubasa would have done, but Hina wasn’t her best friend), she decided to run further ahead and search for Tsubasa along the way. She still couldn’t even believe she was in this place, even as she felt her feet on the floorboards – but she was here, wherever ‘here’ was. And if she was here, it was likely Torii was here too – and the thought of that was enough to keep her going.

Whilst she was walking down the corridor, flinching at the creaking her own feet on the floor generated, Hina continually called out for Tsubasa, mostly to no avail. Here and there, there were doors on the side of this seemingly never-ending corridor, but the ones she’d encountered were either locked or not been opened in such a long time that even trying to force them open would be a waste of time. This place was old, and she didn’t even want to think about what such a place would have been used for. Possibilities that she’d entertained was a bomb shelter for during the war, yet who made bomb shelters this complex in villages so far away from the city?

The one good thing about this entire situation would be the fact that she hadn’t heard that creepy song for quite some time.

So in hesitance and fear, she continued, lowering her voice to barely above a whisper – Tsubasa had good hearing, so she’d definitely hear her… right? The next door she came across she tugged on the handle out of a habit at this point, but to her shock it rattled open, so she slowly progressed inside. This room was somehow even darker than the corridor, but she felt a light switch on the side of the wall and flicked it upwards, hoping it would literally shed light on the situation. To her luck, a solitary lightbulb flickered on, and acted as a spotlight for what seemed like a girl curled up in the corner – so her and Torii weren’t the only ones alone here!

Thankful, she hurried over to the girl. Like most girls her age – Hina would estimate that the sleepy girl was still in school and in her early teens, perhaps fifteen at the most. The uniform she was wearing was a mixture of muted gold, brilliant white (well, it could have been at one point) and a crimson necktie, and the legs peeking out from underneath were clad in black tights and brown loafers. It had been two years near enough since Hina graduated, and though she would never tell anybody, she liked her school, but only because there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure on kids to perform well. Still, something wasn’t quite right – surely the shaking on her shoulder would have roused her from sleep by now? So Hina – against her better judgement – chose the harsher way of stirring someone, and slapped the girl’s face… and shrieked.

Upon closer inspection, she realised that this young girl was very much dead. Her skin didn’t even feel real, more like a mannequin’s plastic surface… but this was far too real to be fake. “She’s… dead? For… For real?” Amari whimpered, gagging at the disgusting taste and scent that had invaded her senses. How much time had passed since she had died? Externally, she looked as if it could have been mere seconds ago… but evidently, the organs which hadn’t been preserved had begun to decay, hence the odour. Drawing in for a more detailed look, Amari saw that a sharp implement – what it was precisely was unclear- was poking through her hair at the back. “No way… you’ve got to be kidding…” she whined, “She’s dead…! She’s really dead? What do I do?”

The message that had been pinned to the wall next to her dead body didn’t help either. _They’re deceiving you with their pretty faces. They’re all disgustingly rotten underneath._ Because of the twisted way the body had been preserved, Hina didn’t even know if she’d been a wolf, or just a human, and who ‘they’ were. But it made her shudder. What if she fell under that category, and she was going to be killed too? No! She couldn’t afford to think like that!

She calmed herself down by breathing heavily, but this only made her gag on the stench even more. “The police – the alpha works for the police! I’ll call them!” she dug around in her pockets and pulled out her cell but whenever she tried to call anyone, all she heard was a dulcet beep. Out of range. She looked down at the girl who seemed to be sleeping, who looked so peaceful in death, and felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow. Everyone had always told her that she was far too sensitive for her own good. “I’m sorry,” she looked at the schoolgirl. “I guess I can’t do anything for you. I’m really… really sorry.”

Despite her sadness, there was still room for nausea, and Amari briefly wondered if this happened to everyone after death. There had to be something she could do for this deceased person – pay respects to the dead, almost. “I wish I could give you a proper burial, but…” she shrugged her coat off her shoulders, quickly removing all personal belongings and shoving them in her jeans and draped it over the girl’s thin frame. As she did so, she happened to catch a student ID badge on the girl’s chest, and as she placed the coat on, she removed it and studied it intently. Maybe she could find out if this girl had family and tell them about her demise… at least it would give them a bit of inner peace.

**Sasayama Mari. Class 1-2. Oso Academy for Girls.**

Hina wanted to cry. This girl was fourteen, maybe thirteen. Far too young to die. But still, she had to offer the girl some respect in her passing. “My coat’s a little grubby, but I hope it’s alright for you. I wouldn’t like people looking at my dead body either, so… I’m sorry about that. Once I leave here, I’ll find help.”

With that, she promptly left the girl, taking care to close the door behind her. Poor person. Still, why was there a dead body down here? There shouldn’t be… Did that mean that she was going to die in here, too?

 _No, stop it, Hina!_ She scolded herself sternly. _Don’t do it. Don’t think those thoughts._ It was much easier said than done.

The room next to the one she’d just entered was locked as well, and she felt like she’d been instilled with some false hope that she could actually go somewhere other than this damn corridor with no end.

The next room was already slightly ajar- perhaps Tsubasa had left it open, but such scatter-brained behaviour didn’t sound like her friend at all. Well, it was likely that this place’s general creepiness was getting to her as well. The light was on as well, which was a clear indication somebody was in there. “Tsubasa? Are you in here, Tsubasa?” With that, she threw open the door with the greatest of ease – and shrieked louder than she’d ever done before. She didn’t care if attracted attention – she was scared, she was scared, she was scared.

What she had just witnessed left her in a panic, but she knew better than to start screaming again – she had to be strong. But still, weren’t dangerous jobs like this left to the alpha pack of the region? Why did she and Tsubasa have to go through something so horrible?! Even so, the sensation of looming death was stronger than ever now, hence she tugged on the sealed doors along her route with renewed frenzy, to no avail.

However, several doors down, the door slid open with the greatest of ease. That was when the sensible part of her mind began advise her – maybe the ones that she could open had been used recently. And the only other one she could open had been one with a corpse in it. However, she cleared her mind of all doubts – if she could open them, Tsubasa definitely could, and she could be taking cover in these rooms, waiting for Hina to find her. That sounded like something sensible her best friend would do, and Hina took pride in the fact she could predict her best friend’s actions so well.

This room was corpse free, and she felt as if she could relax in here – after all, there was nothing in here that could hurt her. Out in the corridor was a different matter, but in here, she was momentarily safe. A close inspection of the room told her there was little out of the ordinary, so she reclined on a chair (which was rather uncomfortable, but a seat was a seat) in the corner of the room, eyes warily on the door.

Obviously, she was sleepier than she thought, and found herself falling into the land of dreams, oblivious to whatever danger lurked. Naturally, she found herself immersed in pleasant memories of friends, and times from the past in her own schooldays.

***

_During her school life, she’d loved being the centre of attention (not much had changed), though she was hardly one of the popular girls by far – she wasn’t pretty enough, and was declared ‘far too zany’ to ever fit in with that niche, but she was liked by all. Still, this love of attention off other people lead her to the drama club, where she met most of her school friends, and revelled in telling Tsubasa of her tales. She always listened to her complaints – always!  “They’re not letting you use the main stage for the culture day?” Tsubasa had asked, and Hina had shook her head softly._

_“Nuh-uh. I got permission on the phone, but if the principal says no, that’s that. It’s sad… we had a huge production plan and everything!”_

_“What nonsense,” Tsubasa shook her head in what could be called muted disgust. “You worked hard on that script, too… didn’t you?”_

_“It’s a shame, since it was based on one of your short stories, ‘Basa. I kinda hoped everyone could see how great your imagination is… And yeah, I was up until three in the morning writing it all out. Obviously someone else proof-read it ‘cause I got tired, but… oh well! Not much we can do now!” she giggled to soothe the aura of silenced anger emanating from her friend and guardian._

_“Are you really alright leaving it at that?” Torii knew that Hina wasn’t, and was doing what she did best – act. “The script is already completed, isn’t it? Maybe I could try my hand at negotiating as your angered mother…” At Hina’s wide-eyed expression, she chuckled softly. “Just because they’re adults doesn’t mean they necessarily deserve the respectful platitudes you’re expected to give them.” Despite her serious tone, it was followed by a wink._

_“Go for it!” Hina giggled, and an expression of confusion flickered across Tsubasa’s face._

_“What’s amused you this time?”_

_“Nothing much. I was just thinking how cute you look even when you’re angry, Basa.”_

_“Thank you, but don’t be silly, Hina.”_

_“I’m only kidding, Basa, but you are very cute. No, I’m really happy that my bestest friend in the whole wide world gets upset for me. It’s nice that you care, Basa!” The confusion hadn’t vanished off Tsubasa’s features, so Hina continued on. “Well, I suck when it comes to conflict and fighting and all that. So I guess it’s really great that you get angry in my place!”_

_At that, Tsubasa had laughed and ruffled her blonde hair. “Quirky as ever, I see.”_

_“You mean I have personality! Just another reason I’m the drama club’s best member! I do more than act – I write, I produce, I make costumes!” she flopped around overdramatically with her hand on her forehead, and gave a forced melodramatic sigh. “It’s so tough being a renaissance woman!” At that, Tsubasa smiled; she was the one who taught Hina that phrase._

_“You are very strong, Hina. Even when things look down for you, you always have the smile on your face and happy outlook. And you’re mindful to other people’s plights. More so than me. In times of sympathy, you’re willing to shed a tear, regardless.” She smiled at the girl who was still smiling through her confusion._

_“Is that meant to be a pick-up line, Basa?” Hina teased, poking her tongue out. “You’re the one always saying I’m scatter-brained!”_

_“I’m speaking from the heart, actually,” Basa told her truthfully. “There are different kinds of strength in the world. Yours is… how do I put this..? I suppose the word would be… exuberant. A strength that never falters. No matter how trying the times, or how many times you stumble and fall, you’re the type who will pick herself up and continue on. So the most I can do for you is cheer you on.”_

_“You should join my drama club, Tsubasa. You’re more dramatic than me at times!”_

_“I’m far too old, surely. You don’t want an elderly person like me raining on your parade, surely. I think that you could do much better without me slowing you down – you’ll do very excellent things.” With that, she pulled the younger girl in for a hug, some strange look in her eyes that Hina had never seen before. “Good luck, Hina. Take care.”_

***

Despite how happy her dream was, she ended up sniffling like an idiot when she woke up and discovered the room hadn’t changed and she was still alone. Away from danger, but away from loved ones, too. “You’re wrong, Tsubasa… I’m not strong at all!” she wailed, hugging her knees to her chest.

For some reason, curling up into a small ball made her feel better. Personally, Hina felt like she was only acting like she’d been only playing the part of the good girl until now – in bad times, all she did was freeze up and rely too heavily on Tsubasa. And despite the pleasant memories, she ended up sobbing loudly. Looking back on it, maybe she was naught more than a burden to her best friend, and finally, she’d grown sick of Hina.

But leaving her here? Tsubasa wouldn’t do that. Ever.

Still, she recalled the conversation she’d dreamt about, but for some reason or the other, she hadn’t recalled Tsubasa’s final sentence, despite the fact it was her friend encouraging her in general. She really was as scatter-brained as Torii said she was.

“E…Excuse me?” a man’s voice called out softly, as if afraid to disturb her. Hina looked up, mortified that someone had seen her crying; only one person had ever seen her properly cry before, and that was Tsubasa. Hina had to admit it, she was hardly dignified when she cried – her face went all splotchy and red for hours on end, and her eyes stung for even longer, bloodshot and swollen. Still, through the quickly thinning veil of tears, Hina found out that the newcomer was a man – but he seemed more like a boy than a man - who was very much alive. Even so, he was older than her. “A…Are y-you okay?” The boy seemed to frown at his feet before looking up.

“I’m fine,” Hina answered out of instinct, before buckling almost immediately. “Well, I’m not.”

The boy simply nodded along, before speaking up. “I c-could smell you. I’m g-glad tha-that y-you’re okay.” Then, he suddenly went very red. “You-you are a w-wolf, right? Be-because saying t-that I could s-smell you sounds ve-very weird! I’m sorry!”

“Yes, I’m a wolf too…” Hina could only feel herself smile at this poor, trembling boy.

Despite his nervous nature, Hina felt safe with this boy, since he seemed genuinely relieved to see her. Safety in numbers, right? If her nose was telling her correctly, he seemed to be a Kanto wolf stranded in the middle of Chubu, too. “I’m Hi-Hinakawa. S-Sh-Sho. Hinakawa Sho.”

“I’m Amari Hina.” Despite her aching body, she forced herself to stand and face this boy.

“Um… uh…” Hinakawa looked around him, his head twisting from side to side. “H-Hold on a second!” With that, he quickly departed, but Hina could hear his loud whispers through the wall. “Ka-Kagari! W-Where are yo-you? Ka-Kaga-Kagari!”

A second voice joined in. “What’s up?” It sounded almost far too relaxed to belong in a hellhole like this. Maybe they hadn’t seen the bodies. “You look flustered.”

“There’s a… there’s a…” There was a silence, in which Amari heard the second voice hum in confusion, before Hinakawa continued, “…girl, i-in there.”

“Seriously, you’re getting flustered by a girl?” Kagari sounded unbelieving. “Is she cute?”

“Um… I… um!” Hinakawa seemed incredibly flustered now. “She-She’s in there! She was up-upset. She’s a w-wolf too! He-Her na-name is Amari H-Hina!”

“Hey, isn’t that one of Yayoi’s buddies?” With that, the door was thrown open again, and for a brief second, Hina forgot all of her fears. But they came creeping back soon enough. The man stood in the doorway seemed slightly more grown up than the other one, but not by much. “Yo, you Hina?”

“Yes...” Hina was perplexed by all this odd behaviour, but at the same time, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the sullen gloominess she’d felt by herself. She would hate it if she was by herself, which was why it was imperative she find Tsubasa soon as possible.

“How long have you been here? Are you alright?” Kagari walked into the room as he spoke, Hinakawa close behind, who closed the door quietly behind him. Probably so she couldn’t get a surprise attack from behind, Hina noted. Despite the somewhat-innocent and naïve expression on their faces, these wolves also seemed fairly resourceful.

“It was about four in the afternoon when me and Tsubasa came into the village. But I don’t know what time I ended up in here. And yes, I’m okay. More or less.” She used the back of her hand to rub at her nose. “Have you seen anyone else? Have you found an exit?”

“We haven’t been here all that long. When we got in it was only about eight o’clock, so you’ve been here for four hours or so. Don’t you have a watch?” Kagari frowned.

“I have my phone, but it died,” Hina confessed. “I should have listened to Tsubasa when she told me not to use it so much…”

“W-We’re f-from the al-alph-alpha pack,” Hinakawa hurriedly cut across. “W-We were f-following ano-another sm-smell, but I-I-I sen-sensed you down here and I-I-I… um… uh… th-thought we sh-should find out wh-what you were doing.”

“What Sho here means to say is, we thought you were one of the bad guys. But considering you’ve been crying, I don’t think that’s the case.

“It’s okay if you don’t trust me,” Hina smiled, but her cheeks were wet with tears again; she was back to feeling lonely. “I wouldn’t trust anyone who wanders around here for fun. You’ve seen the bodies, haven’t you?”

“We’ve seen a fair few,” Kagari sighed, and Sho simply made a noise of affirmation. He sounded… completely heartbroken. “We should probably get out of here. C’mon, you guys, let’s go.”

 “No,” Hina interjected strongly. “I won’t leave this place until I find Tsubasa. I know it’s dangerous, but I have two options right now. Find Tsubasa with your help, or find her without it. I have to find her.”

_I have to go back home with her. There is no home without her. I don’t want to be alone._

Finally, the ginger man, Kagari, relented with a sigh, sensing that she wasn’t going to back down easily, and he wasn’t particularly in the mood for a petty fight. “Alright. But you’ve seen the bodies, obviously. So you should already know that the longer you stay down here, the likelier it is that you’ll die.”

“What do you mean I’ll die?! You mean like all those other people?!” Hina balled her fists, trying to calm herself. “Wait, are you trying to scare me so I’ll go running away?”

“Not exactly,” Red tried to soothe her anger. “Well, maybe I am trying to scare you. Maybe that would be for the best.”

“Well, if I have to risk death to find and save Tsubasa, I’ll do it.” This inner fortitude from one who had been crying just a few moments ago surprised Kagari and Hinakawa in equal measure, but it could have been considered a blessing or a curse. Even so, Sho nodded to tell the girl it was okay for her to tag along, earning himself a grateful – if slightly forced – smile. “Okay, then. I’ll be counting on you two, and I’ll try not to slow you down.”

“Y-You won’t!” Hinakawa tried to encourage her, and she offered him another smile, and he blushed. When he was in high school, girls generally ignored him, and Karanomori and Kunizuka treated him like a child. Sometimes it was nice, other times, not so much. 

So, off the three went, in a muted yet comfortable fashion. Hina hedged her bets that for now, it was speaking only when necessary – though she hadn’t seen anyone or anything that could present her any harm, it was obvious that there was something here committing murders. That poor girl, she thought, still saddened by her discovery. Even so, that girl was gone now, and as much as she hated to say it, there was nothing that could be done for her now, other than tracking down her family. That would be the most compassionate route.

“Do you think there’s someone in here with us that isn’t Tsubasa?” Hina asked, worried. At that sentence, Sho looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.

“Possibly,” Kagari shrugged it off, trying to ignore his hammering heart. The next sentence was more to comfort himself than the other two, but hey, they needn’t know that he was a selfish asshole. “But saying that, it’s also a possibility there’s nobody here and I’m being paranoid.”

“Maybe we’ll find Tsubasa soon, and we can leave as soon as we can,” Hina tried to sound chipper, but this situation which she desperately clung to was unlikely to happen, but she felt the need to find some hope. This situation was wrong, and she had no clue as to how she found herself in it. The last she remembered was the sensation of the ground giving way beneath her. However, what was important here was not how she got into the situation, but how she was going to get out of it.

Suddenly, Sho shushed them, and urgently sped past them. “I c-can he-hear somethi-something!” he whispered loudly to them, and even Hina found herself jogging to keep up with him. As suddenly as he had started, he stopped again, in front of a rather imposing the door. The smell coming from it was… rather foul, and Hina covered her nose to stop herself retching, as tempting as that was. If hell was to have a smell, Hina would say the scent emanating from that room was pretty close – it had that metallic smell to it as if the entire room was made of rust, mixed with the rancid scent of festering flesh. Kagari looked positively queasy. But from within the room, if you strained your ears against the hum of some kind of machine, or the lulling sound of something watery sloshing around, one could hear the noises of pages being hurriedly turned, and the quiet mumblings of someone inside the room.

It was a woman’s voice. _Tsubasa?_

That thought was enough to make Hina’s heart soar, and ignoring the whispered warnings of Kagari and Hinakawa, she burst through the doors. “Tsubasa! Tsubasa, is that you?!”

But the woman they’d heard wasn’t Tsubasa at all, and she didn’t even remotely resemble the one Hina was searching for. She was petite, but she hadn’t got Tsubasa’s boxy frame, and her short hair was brown, like her eyes, but Tsubasa had black hair. Straight away, Hina knew this woman wasn’t a threat, even as Kagari and Hinakawa crashed into the room afterwards. But only a second later, Amari stopped being so fixated on the woman’s face and properly saw the room. Smelt it, and nearly collapsed from the powerful urge to be violently sick. Behind her, Hinakawa fell to his knees, hands clamped firmly over his ears, eyes squeezed painfully shut. Meanwhile, Kagari managed to stand tall, and simply yelled: “Oh, what the fuck?!”

Instantly, the smell that she’d registered became perfectly clear to Hina. A majority of the floor, the walls, the ceiling… was absolutely drenched in blood. Wolf blood. Human blood. _Like a potion,_ Hina thought, before feeling sick at her own thoughts. But that wasn’t even the worst part. No, what was the worst part were the clear glass vats of equally clear liquid pressed against the wall, baring its contents to all to see. And it would take an idiot to not recognize what floated in those tubes.

“Okami…” Kagari whispered hoarsely, sounding afraid for the first time in the short time Hina had known him. Then, his fear was replaced with anger. “Hey, you! Did you do this?! What the hell is wrong with you?! What are they doing in there?! Why are they in there?! What are you planning?!”

 _Was… Tsubasa in here? Was some of this blood hers?_ “No… no… please…” Hina whimpered, tears pooling.

“I have no part in this,” the woman spoke, finally. “Please, calm down. I know this is horrific, but there is very little we can do now.” Her words, though business-like, were spoken softly, calmly, and she walked over to Hina, pulling something from her pocket. “Here.” Gratefully, Hina took it – it was a handkerchief. After a few deep, calming breaths, Hina dried her eyes as the woman turned to Kagari. “You’re from the alpha pack in Kanto, aren’t you?” She addressed the two men that were accompanying her.

“We are. Who are you?”

“I don’t know if your alpha has told you about me yet,” she smiled, almost ironically, “but I doubt it’s positive. He and I got into a fight, which I won, but we’re not enemies. We’re on the same side.”

“Wait. You? You beat Kou’s ass?” Kagari’s mouth was agape. “How?! That guy broke my arm once!”

“Who knows how I won?” she replied airily. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m… Tsunemori.”

“I’m Kagari,” Kagari pointed to himself, and then to Hinakawa, and to Hina. “That quivering hot mess is Hinakawa, and that cutie over there is Amari. What’s someone like you doing down here, Tsunemori?”

“I was sent by Kanto’s Okami to look for Amari Hina and Torii Tsubasa,” she said, sounding pretty proud of that fact, and Hina was incredibly surprised to say the least, for many reasons. First, she couldn’t believe that she was talking to someone who directly took orders of the Okami; second, the fact that the Okami bothered to even send a person looking for her was unbelievable, since was essentially a bottom-feeder since she did minimum in terms of wolf work; and third, she didn’t even know Kanto had an Okami. Even this news shocked the other two, and Hinakawa unclamped his head from his hands. “However, in my search, I found this room, and this.” She held up a notebook in her hand. “And now, what are you two doing here?”

“I-I-I was tracing a sc-scent. B-but I-I lost it. Because A-Amari was h-here and I-I thought she was in t-trouble,” he explained. Tsunemori’s eyes seemed to calm him, like he was looking into the eyes of his big sister once again. Why did he keep thinking about his big sister? It was always there, pressing at the back of his mind, but more so recently. _Well, obviously_ , a small voice in his mind whispered. It’s been a year. “The al-alpha’s in-investigating m-m-murders!” he announced proudly, trying to distract himself. “S-So we have to help!”

“I’m looking into this as well,” Tsunemori smiled, before stretching out her hand. “Do you want to team up? Only for a short while, but four heads are better than one.”

“I…” Hina’s protest fizzled out in her throat. _…Have to find Tsubasa. Now. Now! NOW!_

“Sure thing!” Kagari grabbed her free hand. “Honestly, you beat Kou’s ass. That’s awesome.”

“Don’t you like your alpha?” Tsunemori raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

“I do, but I still need payback for the time he broke my arm,” he giggled. _Like a kid_ , Hina thought. _Just like a little kid_. “Anyway. That thing. What is it?”

“A scientific report written by the person running the little affair we can see here,” Tsunemori perched on the edge of the table and flicked open the book, scanning it. “It took me a while to finally understand it, but… This little project is run by a man going by the name of Kirito Kamui, and he’s helping the Chubu. He calls this project ‘a necessary step in the liberation of the entire wolf race’.” At that, Kagari’s face curled up. “The Okami’s powers are being drained by that solution in there,” she indicated towards the vats. “There was a whole lot of pages about how it works, but I’m not going to bore you with solutions and formula. Apparently, it’s taken orally.”

“Someone drinks that shit?!” Kagari spat. Hina was seeking around the room, for any indication of her missing friend.

“Yeah, it allows the Okami’s power to transfer,” Tsunemori explained. “This is incredibly premediated. Someone’s being incredibly clever about this. They’re trying to become… godlike.”

“W-With… all of th-these O-Okami… the-they would be i-impossible to… d-defeat…” Hinakawa was shaking again, and he curled up again, but his own disgust stopped him from lying down on the floor. Some of the blood seemed sticky, and he didn’t want to touch it.

“That’s not all. Kirito Kamui… is a collective entity,” Tsunemori explained. “He’s found a way to make himself stronger and essentially give himself Okami-like status. But there’s no why. Just this liberation crap.”

“A collective entity?” Kagari questioned. Thankfully, Hina was being ignored, as she crawled slowly across the floor, something catching her eyes. She could see Torii’s favourite waistcoat, thrown carelessly in the corner.

“He’s found a way of conjoining himself with several wolves. There are a few half-wolves in there too. But… all the same,” Tsunemori continued, and Hina’s hands closed around the old fabric of her friend’s clothes. “There are 247 entries. Some of them look fairly recent, which is sick.”

“But why is he doing that?”

“He just says that he needs strength to save the wolves from humanity’s oppression,” Tsunemori sounded disinterested. “I hate him.” Tsunemori continued. “He can become those he absorbs. It mainly involves replacing a part of his original body with part of theirs, it’s pretty messed up stuff. He can turn into an exact replica of them – fed from their memories, apparently.”

“T-That would be c-cre-creepy,” Hinakawa mumbled. “Y-Your h-head would be all… c-crammed full.”

“Yeah,” Tsunemori seemed saddened. “They’re trapped there. Completely trapped. Seeing everything. Thinking of their old friends, and not being able to return. Kamui records their thoughts often.”

Hina stood up, hiding Tsubasa’s coat, hands trembling. “Was one of those entries… Torii… Tsubasa?”

Tsunemori said nothing, and Hina leapt at her, and wrestled the book from her hands. As she desperately flipped the pages – glimpsing the names Hinakawa and Sasayama Mari on the way, and felt sad for those two – and found Tsubasa’s face staring back at her from the last page.

The scream was out of her throat before she could even stop it as the false hope she clung to shattered into a million tiny pieces.


End file.
